


Put A Spell On Me

by cherrycarat



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, But mostly fluff, M/M, Teeniest bit of angst, and lowkey slowburn, its a witchy verkwan fic yay, just one big magical gay mess, plenty of nsfw incidents, with plenty of adorable side ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 00:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 56,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11566542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrycarat/pseuds/cherrycarat
Summary: Hansol owns an urban witchery shoppe. However, apart from the few superstitious grannies and edgy teen wannabe witches, the shop doesn’t get much attention. Until, of course, he gets an accidental visitor in the middle of the night that has no idea what they’re doing there.





	1. Teleportation and Other Strange Happenings

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a quick forenote just to clear up some things. i have no idea where this story is set. i didn’t even have a clear idea of the setting in my head. perhaps a small town somewhere in korea. perhaps its a place somewhere entirely made up. who knows? i do throw in a lot of references to korean culture and food and kpop, so there’s that. 
> 
> characters have the same age differences, but for hansol to run his own store it would make sense to age him up a few years. you don’t have to imagine it if you don’t want to. most other character facts are canon. 
> 
> i didn't include archive warnings but i won't forget trigger warnings if they're ever necessary either, don’t worry i gotchu.  
> updates every two-three weeks to keep it just the right amount of suspenseful lmao.
> 
> feel free to message me on tumblr, twitter, or instagram if you wanna talk about verkwan or beg me to hurry up and post the next chapter (@cherrycarat)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update: you can now read this fic on wattpad! my username is @cherrycarateu on there

Hansol had opened up the shop on a whim. His mother, one of the more famous witches in this part of the country, had given him enough of her magical knowledge before leaving him out in the real world by himself, as many witches prefer to do with their children. With nothing much else to do in his life, he rented a small shophouse on the quiet side of town, filled the shelves with spell books and jars of herbs, moved his furniture upstairs and hung up a sign above the storefront: The Eclectic Wiccan’s Shoppe.

Of course, Hansol knew being a witch was nothing like in the movies. He didn’t fly around on a broomstick with a wand cursing people. Being a witch was more like quietly casting luck spells surrounded by candles and crystals on a full moon night. At least he was lucky enough to have a black cat.

When setting up the shop, he noticed that the storefront actually had a large window, but Hansol being Hansol decided to cover it up by plastering an unbelievable amount of posters on the glass.

 _In- store Tarot Readings!_  
_Dozens of modern and antique spellbooks inside! Come and browse sometime!_  
_Herbs, crystals, potions – we’ve got it all! _  
__

Ridiculously colorful backgrounds and cheesy catchphrases weren’t really his thing (if he had to describe his “thing” it’d probably be dark colors and, well, less cheesy catchphrases) but he knew his town well enough and he knew it’d attract people.

The thing is, his shop seemed to attract only certain types of customers. Not everyone who walked past a shop that had the word ‘wiccan’ in the name was going to want to enter. After a while of tending to the shop, he began to notice certain stereotypes in the people that came in.

His first customers were just curious passers-by. These people didn’t really match a certain type; they were just wondering why this strange store was next to the nail salon/waffle hut they usually visited. Sometimes they’d come in and browse cautiously through the labeled bottles on the shelves. Some would ask skeptically if they actually worked before leaving, and others would have to be convinced by Hansol before they actually decided to buy anything.

Second came the superstitious middle aged women. These old ladies usually wandered in asking if they could have their fortunes read or if Hansol had any charms they could hang around the house that would ward off bad spirits (for the record, he could do both). Sometimes they’d stay for a chat, talking about their adorable grandchildren or their sons who didn’t seem to visit enough, and Hansol would pour them a cup of lemongrass tea and tell them that things would be okay. Even if it took up most of his afternoons, at least they left extra tips in the money box.

The third type of usual customer he noticed were the hipster-type girls with edgy style. These girls would walk into the store with purple or blue hair tied up into some sort of quirky updo, like space-buns. They’d be wearing some sort of shirt with a quote on it that said something like ‘space queen’ or ‘normal people scare me’, and more often than not they’d be wearing a choker or have a galaxy print backpack. These were the girls that liked the aesthetic of being a witch. They loved buying colorful crystals and candles and potion bottles, simply because they were pretty. Hansol didn’t fully understand it, but it’s not like was going to stop them from buying his hand-sewn moon chart, since those were some of the most expensive things in the shop.

He did get plenty of other types of customers. Sometimes, people would come in, and Hansol could just sense that they were a witch. Some felt like they were beginners, or acolytes, in the traditional word. Others came in with the perfect aura around them, and they felt like the most experienced witches. Hansol became self-conscious every time he tried to help out a customer that already knew way more than him. Thank goodness they were actually nice and not snobby that Hansol knew nothing about blood root in spite of selling it in his very own shop.

Despite all of the people he met every day, Hansol had to admit that his most interesting customer by far was not one he was expecting. It was possibly a quiet Friday evening, and he had just decided to close up shop for the night. It wasn’t a particularly busy day, and he hadn’t expected it to be. He went around on his usual routine: moving items into the perfect positions, shelving books based on titles and dates, and calculating his profits for the day.

His black cat, Kiki (short for Kikimora, like the Russian house spirits, and not very different in personality from them too) strode through the room gracefully, winding in between table legs and climbing up the spiral staircase.

He hummed a tune quietly to himself and followed Kiki up to his small flat above the shop. He stepped into his kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator door, considering his options for dinner. He was just about to pull out a container of orange chicken when he heard a soft sound from the store below him.

He paused for a moment, wondering if he imagined it, or if it was just his cat that had wandered back down. He began to turn back to the refrigerator when he heard it again, this time a little louder. A moment later, Kiki appeared at his feet and began to rub her body against his leg as she normally did. Something was definitely happening downstairs.

Hansol halfheartedly closed the refrigerator door and tiptoed back down the stairs, practicing defensive spells in his head. He only knew a few – shield spells, body-binding, karma chants – but was still hoping whoever/whatever was downstairs was not entirely dangerous.

He silently moved against the wall in the darkness of the shop until he reached the light switch. In one quick movement, he flicked the switch and spun around, body in fighting stance, ready to face whatever was there. To his surprise, there was no magical monster or burglar in black ski mask. Only a frightened looking boy standing in the middle of the room.

The two of them stood in silence for a moment, neither knowing who the other was and why they were wherever they currently were. Hansol decided to take a step forward, but the boy’s reaction was not what he was expecting.

“Don’t hurt me!” the boy cried, taking a step away from the witch. His entire body was quaking with fear. The sight both disoriented and distressed him.

“What?” Hansol replied in disbelief. “Why would I hurt you? You’re in my shop.”

“Please don’t do anything!” the boy said once more, obviously not having heard Hansol.

“Stop crying,” Hansol said, then as an afterthought added, “please.”

The boy blinked back his tears and hesitantly brought his eyes up to meet Hansol’s through the dark hair hanging over his own eyes.

“I promise I’m not a bad guy,” the boy said, his voice brittle. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”

“It’s alright,” Hansol said, although uncertainly. “How about we just take a moment to relax?”

The boy’s eyes fluttered downwards and he nodded quickly, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Hansol didn’t know what to do at this point. Was the boy genuinely scared? He seemed like it, but he could never know. His mom faced her fair share of black magic witches, and they always liked to pretend they were innocent before lashing out. But when Hansol looked back at the boy, the tears in his eyes really did seem genuine.

“Want to sit down? I’ll get you a cup of tea.”

The boy seemed unsure about it, but it’s not like he had any other options, so the boy dropped himself on the worn out couch. Hansol went to the shop counter where he kept the teacups and quickly brewed up a cup of peppermint tea. He brought it back to where the boy was sitting before seating himself on the chair opposite him.

The boy held the cup in his hands, swirling the leaves around, letting the warmth of the tea soak into his palms, before slowly taking a long sip. Hansol watched as color began to reappear in the boy’s plump cheeks and the worry lines disappeared.

“Mind telling me where I am?” the boy asked, his voice soft.

“You’re in my shop,” Hansol replied.

“Oh.”

Hansol thought for a moment. “How’d you get in? I have protection spells on all the entrances.”

The boy froze. “Protection spells?”

Oh shit. He wasn’t a witch.

“I – uh,” Hansol stammered. “I meant – uh, never mind that. You shouldn’t have been able to get inside." 

 

The boy frowned. “I don’t even know how I got in here.”

“What?”

“I swear I’m telling you the truth,” the boy pleaded, droplets of water forming in the corners of his eyes.

“I don’t think you’re lying,” Hansol reassured quickly. “I just don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

 

“I don’t know either,” he said with a half laugh. It wasn’t the most comforting laugh, but it was better than another breakdown. “I could tell you what happened, but it doesn’t even make sense to me.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve seen plenty of things you would call impossible.”

The boy sighed and stared out the window, or whatever was visible through the posters slapped against it. The sky was completely dark now, only a waxing crescent moon and the few scattered city lights illuminated outside.

“I was walking home, and I must have been lost in my thoughts or something. I wasn’t paying attention, and I took a wrong turn somewhere, and I got lost.” He paused and Hansol nodded at him to continue. “And I got scared. I didn’t know where to go. So I started wishing I was home, that I was anywhere but here. And suddenly my eyes were closing, and it felt like I was suffocating. I was so scared. And then I heard a sound, and the lights were on and I was standing here. And you were in front of me.”

Hansol blinked. Had he heard this right? That sounded like –

 “You’re a witch,” Hansol said suddenly.

The boy’s lips parted slightly in surprise, his eyes full of bewilderment. “Huh?"

 “I don’t know why you ended up here, but you just… teleported?”

“What?"

“Well,” Hansol explained, not fully certain himself. “It’s not really teleportation like in the sci-fi movies. When witches do it, it’s more of a psychic thing. But still, only powerful witches can do that. How did you do it?"

 The boy stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the teacup in the process. “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Hansol was taken aback at the sudden outburst. What happened to the soft, crying stranger from a minute earlier? 

 “YOU KEEP SAYING WITCHES, WHAT DO YOU EVEN MEAN?!”

Hansol tried to get him to calm down but it was definitely not working.

“I JUST WANT A REASONABLE EXPLANATION FOR WHY I’M IN A STRANGER’S HOUSE THAT’S FILLED WITH CRYSTALS AND PICTURES OF THE MOON AND WHY NOT AT HOME LIKE I SHOULD BE!”

“Well, I’m trying to tell you but you won’t let me!”

“WELL TELL ME THEN!” The boy huffed and stared down at Hansol in frustration. “Tell me then,” he said, in a slightly less violent tone and sitting down again.

“Okay,” Hansol said, “but you have to promise not to start screaming again.”

“I can’t promise that.”

Hansol sighed. “I’m a witch. That’s why this shop is full of crystals and potions and stuff. And I guess you’re a witch too.”

“Don’t lie to me.” His round cheeks were getting pinker.

“I’m not!”

“Where’s your wand and your pointed hat and your black cat then, huh?”

Hansol scoffed. “You’re thinking of wizards. Wizards have wands and pointy hats, not witches. And wizards don’t exist.” He paused. “I do have a black cat though.”

 “You’re lying to me,” the boy said, although Hansol could sense him even doubting himself.

“Do I have to prove it to you or what?”

The boy nodded furiously.

 “Fine then,” Hansol huffed and stood up, looking around the room for something he could use to prove he was a witch. He spotted a small orange bottle wrapped with a blue bow. That should do it.

He brought back the bottle along with a shot glass and placed them in front of the boy. 

“I don't drink," the boy said, a cynical look on his face. 

“It isn’t a drink. It’s a potion. Try it.”

“Are you about to drug me?”

“I promise it isn’t a drug,” Hansol said, rolling his eyes. “If I wanted to hurt you in any way I would have done so already.”

 The boy scoffed, and Hansol took that as a sign to reach forward and pour the liquid into the shot glass. He handed it to the boy across from him.

The boy stared at the glass in annoyance, as if it was mocking at him in some way.

“Just so you know, I don’t entirely trust you.”

“Maybe you will after you drink the potion.”

“... Fine.” The boy sighed and lifted up the cup and swallowed its contents in one movement. He paused for a moment, not really feeling an effect, and tried to scold Hansol again, but when he opened his mouth, no sounds came out.

"Fun, isn’t it?” Hansol said, a hint of amusement in his words.

The boy kept trying to speak, but all that came out was a choked silence. He began to angrily mouth something along the lines of ‘WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT’ but Hansol just smiled.

“It’s a silencing elixir. It causes you to lose your speech temporarily. I’m sure there were plenty of other terrible potions I could have given you but I thought this one would work best.”

The boy continued to angrily gesture at Hansol, but at least he had gotten the point across.

“Just rub at your Adam’s apple for a bit,” Hansol explained. “Your voice will come back eventually.”

The boy grumpily rubbed his throat, now and then shooting Hansol an annoyed look. When he felt his voice return to him, he looked back at Hansol with a defeated look.

"I ended up in your shop by accident and instead of helping me, you give me a freaking silencing potion.”

“I couldn’t think of anything else that could convince you,” Hansol said apologetically. “Sorry about that.”

>“Alright, fine,” he sighed. “You got me. You’re a witch. Or something like that anyway. I’m still not entirely ready to believe you.”

 “I expected that,” Hansol said, leaning back in his chair. “I’ll probably have to show you some advanced spells or something to make you believe me. But maybe not.”

“Whatever. I still don’t know why you said I was a witch. I’m clearly not. I don’t know how to make potions like you. I don’t own a black cat. I don’t know magic.”

“Maybe you do know magic, just unknowingly. You’d be surprised at how many people have magical powers but they can’t recognize it. Some people just have more than others, and they happen to be witches. Like me, for example. Or you.”

 “But I don’t know any magic,” the boy repeated.

“Sure you do,” Hansol said. “You just teleported into my shop.”

“What? How?”

“Who knows? You were caught up in the moment. You didn’t know where you were and you panicked, and some part of your psychic made you end up in this shop.”

“I don’t want to believe you, but there’s no other explanation, right?”

Hansol shrugged.

The boy sighed again and sunk into the couch cushions. “Why me?”

There was a brief yet comfortable moment of silence, then the boy’s face lit up again.

“So what else can witches do?” he asked, a small hint of something exciting in his voice. 

“Cast spells, brew potions, charm things,” Hansol counted them off on his fingers. “What else? Oh yeah, the cool stuff like astral projection and telekinesis and mind reading.”

“Holy shit,” the boy whispered. “You can do all of that?”

 “Nah, I can only do the less cool stuff. And then I sell whatever I make. But it seems like you can teleport?”

“Teleportation, huh. But why can I do it and not you?"

“All witches have a special power that they are somewhat better at than others. I’m pretty skilled in tarot cards. My mom was an expert in divination. My friend calls himself a crystal expert, if you can believe him in any way. And your unique power is supposed to guide you in life, sort of like a helping hand.”

“That’s a little too much for me to handle right now,” the boy groaned. “Maybe get back to me another day to tell me that.”

“Seems reasonable,” Hansol said. You’ve had an exhausting night. You should probably be heading back home now. Do you live with your parents? They might be worried.”

“I live alone, so that’s not really a problem” the boy reassured, then spent a moment thinking. “Should I try teleporting back home?”

“You could try. Unless you’re exhausted.”

 The boy huffed. “I am exhausted. I could just walk. Where is this shop located anyway?”

“We’re about a half mile away from the south side post office,” Hansol said.

“Oh, that’s not too far away.” He stood up and dusted himself off. “Thanks for not… thinking I’m weird. For helping me out, I mean.”

Hansol chuckled. “Not a problem. At least you ended up beaming into my shop. You would have been confused if you were anywhere else.”

“True,” the boy mused. “I’ll get going then…”

“Are you sure you can get to your house by yourself? It’s getting late and you know its not exactly the safest neighborhood. I’ll come with you if you want.”

 The boy’s eyes widened. “No, no, that’s alright. It’s not far.”

Hansol followed him as he walked to the entrance. 

“Bye, then,” he said with a small wave. Hansol waved back and watched him head out, his hands in his pockets and a soft smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: i hope this was interesting??? witch/modern magic au’s are my favorites to write and i’ve written a ton of them before so expect some fancy magical terms to be thrown around. also its pretty obvious who the boy is but you’re gonna have to wait for hansol to find out muahahahahah. again, next chapter will be out in about two or three weeks. love ya! <3


	2. A Reversed Death Card

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More unexpected meetings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> super sorry for the long wait, i meant to upload this the week before but i had to catch a flight to denmark woo! anyway its here now, and i promise you that you'll be getting weekly uploads starting now :)

_8:04 AM._

Hansol felt a pair of paws on his face. He opened his eyes despite the heaviness of his eyelids and wasn’t surprised to see Kiki angrily staring down at him.

“Do you _have_ to wake me like this every morning?” Hansol whined in his slightly hoarse morning voice.

Kiki responded by softly slapping his nose and mewling.

“I know, I know. You just want food.” He smiled adoringly and lifted Kiki off his face so he could turn over on his pillow and get out of bed.

After a quick shower (during which the cat never stopped clawing at his door, still begging to be fed), Hansol descended down the spiral stairs to the store.

He pulled out a bag of cat food from under the counter and poured it into Kiki’s small bowl. She stopped meowing and hungrily began attacking the food. Hansol continued with his morning routine, first task being to change the sign in the door to ‘open’.

His first customers wouldn’t arrive until nine at least; Hansol had grown familiar with their schedules. Since he wasn’t going to have anything to do for a while, he picked a book off one of the shelves at random and plopped himself down on the couch.

His mind couldn’t concentrate on the words on the page though, it was wandering off. First to store related concerns, then slowly to last night’s incidents. He realized he had never even gotten the boy’s name. What did he even look like? The face slowly reappeared in Hansol’s head. The round, pink cheeks with high cheekbones. The messy, copper hair that framed his face. The rounded shoulders under a pink hoodie. At least he’d recognize him if he ever ran into him again.

Hansol absentmindedly played with the corner of a page, lost in thought, only interrupted when he felt something soft touch his legs. He smiled down at Kiki, who was done eating and needed attention. Hansol agreed happily by scooping her up into her arms and stroking and playing with her.

Somewhere close to nine o’ clock, he heard quiet bells jingle as the front door opened.

“Sorry, Kiki. Business calls.” He scratched the top of her tiny head and let her jump down to the floor, meowing one last time before scuttling off to wherever she liked to spend her days. Hansol never had the time to find out where she went.

“Morning, Chwe!” a familiar fruity voice called from the front of the shop. Hansol looked up and saw one of his favorite regulars, Wonwoo, waving at him. Wonwoo never directly mentioned it, but Hansol could tell he was a proper witch too.

“Morning, Jeon,” Hansol smirked and put on his best dramatic voice. “What brings you here on this fine Saturday morning?”

"Oh nothing much, _darling,_ ” Wonwoo said, rolling the ‘r’ melodramatically before making a gross face. “Let’s never talk like that again. I have a boyfriend now. Anyway –”

“You have a bOYFRIEND?” Hansol screamed suddenly, making Wonwoo retract in surprise and horror. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything, you’re not my mom. I just want my weekly tarot reading.”

“Fine, whatever. Get over here then,” Hansol said, gesturing for him to come to the couch.

Wonwoo sat on the armchair across from him. Hansol’s customers usually sat on the couch while he took the armchair, but Wonwoo had his own way of doing things. That habit of which, not surprisingly, seemed to become apparent whenever Hansol did the tarot readings and he got a result he didn’t like. Like right now.

“Did you seriously pull out a reversed Death card for my future?”

Hansol groaned. “One, I don’t arrange the order of the cards specifically to torture you. Two, how many times do I have to remind you that the Death card doesn’t mean you’re about to die?”

Wonwoo huffed. “I’ve never gotten it reversed, alright? Tell me what my future holds.”

“Okay, well,” Hansol said, looking closely at the card, as if it would somehow change colors to reveal its true meaning, “it means you’re going to have some major changes in your life that you need to make.”

Wonwoo pursed his lips. “That’s… true.”

“But you’re refusing to make those changes for some reason.”

“Holy shit,” Wonwoo said and widened his eyes. “The tarot genius strikes again.”

“What does that even mean?” Hansol said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Can I clean up this deck now?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Wonwoo said, waving him off. Hansol began to pick the cards back up as Wonwoo continued rambling. “But the tarot cards are totally right. Damn, how do you do that?”

“It’s a basic three card spread, what are you even talking about?”

"Yeah, the concept is easy,” Wonwoo droned. “But every time I try to use the card set I bought from you, I end up getting shitty cards that make no sense.”

“I’m sure they make sense, you probably don’t know how to interpret them. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you still don’t know what the Death card means,” Hansol teased.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Never,” Hansol said, mocking him. “Do the major changes have anything to do with your _boyfriend?”_

Wonwoo sighed and looked away. “Okay fine,” he said slowly. “You got me. He’s not exactly my boyfriend.”

Hansol needed a second take. “He’s not?”

“Yeah, well, we’re really close, and he acts like a boyfriend, but he never actually says it. When you pulled out the Seven of Cups card and told me it meant I was dealing with a lot of choices right now, you were right. I want to be able to call him my boyfriend but it looks like he’s not going to make the first move.”

“Oh wow, I guess this _is_ completely up to you” Hansol said, making Wonwoo scowl again. “The Death card means new beginnings too, you know. And the cards aren’t giving me bad energies. I sense good things.”

“Are you sure?” Wonwoo said, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m the tarot genius, aren’t I?” Hansol laughed and stood up. “If you want extra luck with these kinds of things, maybe you should consider buying a charm bag or a couple of candles?”

“I can make my own charm bags, dickhead,” Wonwoo said sarcastically. “If only you weren’t such a good marketer. You wouldn’t happen to have any illegal and totally magical aphrodisiacs, would you?”

“I can make them, but I’d never sell them,” Hansol said. “Now give me what you owe me for the tarot reading before I put a banishing spell on you.”

“You would never,” Wonwoo taunted. “I’m your favorite customer.” He put down a couple of bills and a purple crystal on the counter.

“Did you run out of change or something?” Vernon said.

"The crystal is payback for when I borrowed the toadstone from you.”

“Toadstones are rare!” Hansol began to scold Wonwoo, but he was already heading out the door. “I could get this fake quartz at the dollar store!”

Wonwoo blew an exaggerated fake kiss through the window and disappeared from Hansol’s sight. He sighed and began preparing for his next few customers.

By midday, he had managed to rake in a reasonable profit. He handled three tarot card readings: one for a teenage girl who was worried if her boyfriend was cheating on her (he wasn’t), and two separate ones for a couple of old ladies who were just excited to see what their futures held. He also ended up selling a bunch of candles to a couple of high school students and a set of opal stones to a boy who needed a present for his witch girlfriend.

Hansol was scratching numbers into his journal again while a long-haired witch was tirelessly searching through his potion shelf as they had been doing for the last five minutes.

“Excuse me,” they asked finally in a sweet voice. Hansol looked up from his book.

“What can I help you with, miss–” Hansol paused as the witch’s nose began to turn up, which probably meant he had made a mistake, and then quickly corrected himself, “–ster?”

The witch flipped _his_ long hair behind his shoulder. “Do I really look old enough to be called mister?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“It’s just to be polite,” Hansol explained. “Also, sorry.”

“About almost calling me miss? I don’t care about that,” he said, grinning. “Enough people do that to me daily. Happen to have a potion that stops people from misgendering you?”

Hansol looked at the bottles he was holding. “I don’t think I have one specifically for that.”

The witch sighed and put the bottles back on the shelf.

Hansol thought for a moment. “I could try designing a special sigil though.”

The witch’s eyes lit up. “You could?”

“I’m not entirely sure. It might take a while to create new symbols and figure out the formula but–”

“Doesn’t matter!” the witch said excitedly. “Take as much time as you need! I’ll even pay you double the regular price if it works!”

“That’s not necessary,” Hansol smiled. “I’m not the best at sigils but I think I could try.”

"Thank you so much!” the witch said, suddenly pulling him into a tight hug. Hansol stepped out of it nearly lightheaded. The witch bounced around the shop, making various things fly into his hands before bringing them back to the counter so Hansol could ring them up.

“Thank you, again,” the witch said, picking up the bag of magical items. “Make me a patch with the sigil. And I’ll know when to come around to pick it up! Blessed be!” he said before leaving the shop.

Hansol scratched his head. What could he possibly have meant when he said ‘I’ll know when to come around’? Was he supposed to call the witch? He didn’t have his number. Maybe tie a letter to his cat’s foot and send her off? Deciding that he’d figure it out when the time comes, he went to collect his sketchbook to start designing the sigil.

Hours later, when the sky was turning into shades of cerulean and amethyst, he put down his pencil. Saturdays were his supermarket run days. He needed to buy groceries and various spell-making items for the week. He grabbed his coat and wallet and closed shop for the day.

The neighborhood was quiet that evening. Hansol could only hear birds chirping their last songs for the day and murmurs of conversations as he passed each building. The wind was cool, a sign that winter might finally be coming, and he tucked his hands into his coat pockets happily. The store was a ways from his own, and it required him to switch streets and wind in between buildings occasionally, but nothing too dark or menacing to walk through.

The convenience store was lit up with white fluorescent lights mixed with the peachy tones of the neon ads, which gave it a lovely retro atmosphere, even for an old convenience store.

He grabbed a basket and strolled around the store, looking for his necessities. He picked out a few bottles of various spices and random witchy essentials such as candles and incense before continuing towards the fresh food aisle for his own needs. He wasn’t a culinary expert, but living alone helped him fine tune his skills enough that he didn’t need to have a frozen dinner every night. Besides, he needed cooking abilities to be able to brew decent potions to sell.

He let the cashier, a tired looking teenager with a nose ring, ring up his items and put them into bags. When he stepped out of the store, the night had gotten slightly colder. He pulled his coat tighter and trudged on back towards his own shop.

He turned left on a corner and headed down a smaller path. There weren’t any other people here, maybe considering it didn’t lead anywhere except towards the other end of town and there were plenty of other more convenient ways to get there. Tonight it was just Hansol and the yellowy overhead streetlights, and occasionally a bird flying overhead, as if taunting him that they could get home faster than he could.

His peaceful moment was unexpectedly interrupted by a faint popping noise. Hansol turned around to check what made the noise and bumped into someone who immediately let out a soft “ouch”. Hansol stepped back, rubbing his arm where he hit them and was startled to see no one other than the same boy he had met last night.

“Sorry if I scared you!” the boy frantically said, reaching out to Hansol apologetically. “Oh no, I didn’t mean for this to happen. Are you okay? Why do I do this to myself…”

“I’m fine, really” Hansol reassured. “I was just surprised to find you here like this.”

“Well, actually, _I’m_ surprised to find myself here like this. After last night I wasn’t even sure if I had imagined what had happened or if I could do it again, but then this happens.”

“Was this another accident?” Hansol asked.

“Yeah,” the boy said, laughing nervously.

“Mind if I ask how you accidentally teleported again?”

The boy’s cheeks flushed red. “I – uh,” he stammered, “I was – too cold, and didn’t want to walk all the way home in this weather.”

Hansol noticed that he wasn’t wearing the pink hoodie he was wearing yesterday, and instead had on a pink striped men’s shirt loosely layered over a white tee.

“Want my coat?” Hansol asked, not even considering for a moment that he was only wearing a sweater underneath.

“What?” the boy asked, his eyes wide. “No, no, that’s alright–”

“I can tell you’re cold. It’s already September, you shouldn’t be walking around without at least a sweater on. You should take it,” Hansol said, already slipping the tan coat off his shoulders and handing it to the boy.

"Thank you,” the boy said quietly. He put on the coat quickly, the sleeves too big and the ends reaching his thighs. He looked a bit smaller now that he had it on.

Hansol smiled and pulled the sleeves of his own sweater over his hands to cover them from the harsh wind.

“I guess I’ll head home now,” the boy said shyly. “Thanks again for the coat. I promise I’ll return it. It looks expensive. I wouldn’t want to steal it.”

Hansol waved it off. “It’s really no problem. Get home safely alright?”

The boy nodded quickly before timidly waving and turning around to head down the path towards the main street.

Hansol watched him turn the corner before turning around himself to head back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cough*itsthetancoatfromtheboomboommv*cough* 
> 
> don’t complain about still not getting the boy’s name because you KNOW who it is. also long haired witch (guess who lmao) will be returning soon enough, as will the other members so get excitedddddd. next chapter will be out next week as promised <3
> 
> and again thank you to everyone who leave kudos and comments, it gives me so much motivation and happiness to keep writing *:･ﾟ✧


	3. Honey Vanilla Tea (minus the silencing elixir)

Hansol placed the three candles in a triangle on top of his table and placed a penny in each of the holders underneath them.

“Bring me hope.” He lit the first candle, rang a small copper bell, and lit a sandalwood incense.

“Bring me peace.” He lit the second candle, rang the bell, and lit a frankincense incense.

“Bring me good fortune.” He lit the third candle, rang the bell once more, and lit a rosemary incense.

He placed the three incense sticks in the middle of the triangle and leaned back into the armchair, the ritual finally complete. Now he just had to wait an hour.

Earlier that Sunday morning, Wonwoo had stopped by again for a healing crystal and to say hi, and a few other customers had dropped by later. In the afternoon, when Hansol felt he wouldn’t be too busy, he decided to perform a home blessing spell, both to practice spellwork and to purify his store of bad energies.

Like before, his mind had been buzzing with thoughts, mostly of the boy in the pink hoodie. This time though, he couldn’t help but picture the boy in his tan coat, oversized and all. He silently scolded himself for not getting his name.

 _You meet someone twice and give him your damn coat and still can’t get his name,_ Hansol chastised himself.

He couldn’t remember what had convinced him to hand over his coat like that. The coat wasn’t all that expensive, but he wouldn’t have lent it to, say, Wonwoo (though that might be partly because he wouldn’t trust Wonwoo with most things). He had to have known, even somewhere in the back of his mind, that he’d have to walk home against the cold wind in his sweater, but he still gave up his coat. Maybe it was the picture of the boy in his shop, looking scared and unsure and vulnerable, tear streaks staining his face. Maybe it was out of pity, he had just looked so helpless that day and Hansol’s sympathetic side just decided to do something.

He reverted his attention to his front door, where he heard the bells softly announce a customer’s arrival.

"Merry meet,” he said in his traditional way of greeting unfamiliar customers before proceeding to help them out.

The customer was asking about amulets when something soft brushed against Hansol’s ankle.

“Hey Kiki,” he said smiling before turning back to the customer. “I hope you don’t mind my cat.”

The customer simply shrugged and continued prodding him with questions about the amulet. Kiki brushed against him once more before walking away. A moment after, another soft tinkling of bells was heard.

              “Merry meet,” Hansol said, turning around briefly to greet the new customer, and to his delight spotted the familiar pink hoodie. The boy, making eye contact with Hansol, smiled softly. Hansol smiled back, gesturing at the customer he was busy with. The boy nodded and lead himself towards the couch.

“So, as I mentioned,” Hansol said, turning back to the customer, “this amulet represents a celestial repose for rest and relaxation.”

“That sounds like the one I need,” they said, and let him take it to the counter to ring it up.

As he was typing numbers into the register, he looked up briefly and locked eyes with the boy, who had apparently been watching him attentively. Hansol grinned at him quickly and brought his eyes back to the amulet so he could pack it safely.

“There you go,” he said, handing over the amulet, now resting safely in a cloth bag. “Blessed be,” he greeted, waving at the customer as they left.

He looked back at the boy, who was watching the customer as they left, then turning to Hansol with wide eyes.

“What does blessed be mean?” he asked, curiosity dripping from his words.

“It’s a wiccan farewell,” Hansol explained, turning to his teapot. “Bless-ed-be,” he pronounced.

“Bless-ed-be,” the boy repeated, trying out how it felt. “Like blessed bumblebees?”

“You’re not the first person to say that,” Hansol grinned, pouring in a few drops of honey into the steaming water and allowing it to steep.

“Are you making tea?” the boy asked.

“Yeah, honey vanilla chamomile. Want some?”

“I’m personally more of a coffee person, but the tea you gave me when I first showed up was pretty good, so I can’t really refuse.”

“This one’s sweeter,” Hansol said, checking under the lid occasionally to see if it had steeped well. After a while he poured it into two mugs and brought them to the couch. He handed the boy the pink mug, simply to match his hoodie. The boy smiled at the sentiment and sipped slowly.

“That’s really sweet,” he exclaimed, licking his lips. “I taste licorice.”

“There might be a tiny bit of licorice in there,” Hansol smiled. “Plus some other secret stuff.”

“Secrets?” he said, laughing. “I sure hope you didn’t put another silencing potion in here.”

“I wouldn’t do that again,” Hansol reassured. “I only do that to people to mess with them sometimes. You’re much too nice for that.”

The boy’s face reddened and he took another sip.

“Oh yeah,” he said, placing the cup down on the table and reaching for a small shopping bag next to him. “I brought back your coat.” He held out Hansol’s coat, which was now folded neatly. Hansol took it from him, placing it in his lap.

“Thanks for letting me borrow it,” he said sheepishly. “I don’t know what made me forget to wear my hoodie. I wear it all the time.”

"Except last night.”

“It's not my fault!” he said, flustered, and quickly taking another sip of tea. Apparently this was a habit of his. He looked over at the table where Hansol had laid out his ritual stuff. “What’s all of this?”

Hansol looked at the candles and coins. “Just a home blessing ritual. Don’t worry, I don’t summon demons or whatever this looks like.”

The boy giggled sweetly. Was everything he did this cute?

“Hey, listen,” Hansol said, warming his hands on the mug. “I never got your name.”

“Oh,” he said shortly, looking up. “I guess I never got yours either. I’m Seungkwan. Boo Seungkwan.”

“I’m Hansol,” he replied. “Nice to meet you, Boo.”

“You can just call me Seungkwan!”

“If you insist,” Hansol said with a smile, playing with the corners of the coat in his lap. Seungkwan rolled his eyes.

“Tell me more about the blessed-be thing,” Seungkwan said immediately after. Hansol could tell he was a talkative person, which might actually work with him considering Hansol wasn’t great at conversations anyway.

“What should I say about it? It’s how witches say bye.”

“No, like tell me the origin. Tell me why you say it. I want to know all the witchy details.” Seungkwan’s eyes were glowing excitedly, and Hansol just had to give in. If Seungkwan kept that up, Hansol might even accidentally tell him the entire history of witchcraft.

“It’s a Wiccan ritual,” Hansol explained. “I don’t know much about the origin. It could have been part of old scriptures or rituals.”

“And you use it instead of saying goodbye?”

“Well, some witches think it’s more of a formal greeting, so they wouldn’t use it casually, but as a witch running a magic shop I think it’s alright to greet my customers with that.”

“So should I use it with you?” Seungkwan asked, his lips slightly pouted in confusion.

“You can just say bye,” Hansol laughed. “If you ever join a coven though, you might have to say it to be polite.”

“A COVEN?” Seungkwan yelled. “THOSE EXIST?”

“Yeah, covens are real,” Hansol said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Tell me about them!” Seungkwan said enthusiastically. He reminded Hansol of little kids on their first day of school excited to learn about everything.

Hansol’s theory that Seungkwan was a chatterbox turned out to be correct. Over their teas, they ended up discussing everything from covens to crystals to charms.

“Yes, you can make potions that turn you into animals,” Hansol would say. “They’re hard to make though.

“What if your cat was just a human in disguise?” Seungkwan would point out. “How would you know?”

“She’s not a human in disguise,” Hansol would retort.

“But how do you _know_?”

Their conversations flowed well, winding its way between topics that had anything to do with magic. Seungkwan would ask a question, Hansol would answer, Seungkwan would question the logic, and Hansol would make another point. By the time they were discussing the validity of time travel, the insides of their mugs were only left with dots of tea leaves and the sky was the color of the obsidian crystals Wonwoo liked to place in his backpack sometimes.

“I’m sorry I talked for so long,” Seungkwan said, looking at whatever slivers of the nighttime he could see through the gaps in between the posters on the window. “It’s getting pretty late.”

“Would you normally be home by this time?” Hansol asked, looking up at the clock on the wall.

“Yeah, when I haven’t accidentally teleported myself somewhere on accident,” Seungkwan said, laughing at his own misfortunes.

“Want to try teleporting home tonight?” Hansol offered.

“I might end up in the wrong place again,” Seungkwan fussed. “Maybe another time. When my teleporting skills aren’t rubbish anymore.”

“Fair point,” Hansol smiled.

“Thanks for the tea. It was really nice, you should teach me how to make it sometime,” Seungkwan said. “Also thanks for teaching me so much about being a witch. Thank goodness I have you to teach me all of that. If I had accidentally teleported anywhere else I’d be really lost, so maybe it was a good thing I did that. Minus the crying. That was a bit embarrassing.” His face began to scrunch up in discomfort at his behavior.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Hansol said. “I might have even forgotten it.”

“Like hell you did,” Seungkwan scoffed jokingly, standing up. “Seriously though, thanks a bunch. I hope I don’t annoy you or anything. Or else it’d be awkward if I came back asking for advice.”

“You don’t annoy me, I promise! I like these conversations. My evenings are pretty boring anyway. I just watch TV and play with my cat mostly.”

"Be careful, you might accidentally be stroking a human in disguise,” Seungkwan teased, clinging onto the front door.

“Alright, whatever,” Hansol laughed. “Get home safely, alright?”

“Promise I will,” Seungkwan said. “Thanks again!” He waved happily at Hansol and bounced off, a huge difference from the first time he left the store.

As Hansol watched his silhouette slowly fade into the night, a tuft of black hair appeared under his legs meowing intently for food. Hansol looked down at Kiki.

“You’re not a human in disguise, are you?” he asked.

Kiki meowed back.

“I’ll take that as a no. Or as a request to be fed,” Hansol said, scooping Kiki up into his arms and heading up the stairs to his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: THEY’RE SO FLIRTY I DIDN’T MEAN TO WRITE IT THIS WAY I SWEAR. also if you believe in magic (idk why you’re reading this if you don’t believe, but this is a no judgement zone i promise), the home blessing spell is an actual spell so you can try it if you want. just blow out the candle after an hour because i didn’t include that part heh


	4. Wonwoo’s Not Yet Boyfriend + A Patch For A Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol finds out his fortune.

"So what does the Two of Swords card mean?"

"Repressed emotions."

"Wow, I hate these cards."

Hansol smirked and moved the card to its position in the spread. Wonwoo continued to stroke Kiki, who was laying across his lap, but only a bit grumpier this time.

"Are you just mad because these cards point out the things you don't want to?" Hansol asked pointedly.

"No." Wonwoo paused. "Yeah."

"It's alright, you know."

"I get that," Wonwoo said, sighing. "But like, you're sitting right there finding out about all the miserable things happening in  _my_ life."

"You  _asked_  me to give you a reading," Hansol said. "I can't really help finding out these things. Why don't you learn to give yourself readings?"

"You know I couldn't. There's like a thousand cards to memorize."

"Not even close to a thousand," Hansol said, "but I don't see your point. There's really no harm in trying." Hansol collected all the cards into a pile. "Why don't you try giving me a reading?"

"Me? Give you a reading?" Wonwoo asked and overdramatically added a gasp. "What if I pull out a death card on you?"

"The cards have meanings, you know. And just because you're doing it doesn't mean all the cards are going to be bad."

Wonwoo looked down at Kiki. "What do you think, Kikimora? Should I tell Hansolie his future?"

Kiki purred back.

"Okay fine, I'll give you a reading. But you have to help me okay? I don't know anything about the cards."

"Of course I'll help," Hansol said. "Just don't annoy Kiki too much while you arrange the spread."

Wonwoo nodded and reached over Kiki for the cards. Hansol picked up his mug of white tea and sipped.

"Did I hit a sore spot with the Two of Swords card?" Hansol asked. "Just wondering. I don't want these readings to be uncomfortable."

"They're not uncomfortable," Wonwoo said, shuffling the cards. "It's like what you said earlier, the cards point out the things I don't want to. It's just a tiny bit embarrassing."

"Does this have anything to do with your not-yet-boyfriend?" Hansol asked.

"Sort of, yeah. We can talk about it later. Right now I have to give you the reading."

He put down the first card to represent Hansol's past, The Page of Pentacles, and looked up at him. "So what does that mean?"

Hansol smiled. "You're doing the reading here, you tell me."

"Aish, why are so you annoying?" Wonwoo groaned and picked up the card to observe it closely. "I know pentacles represent luck and money and business crap. So I guess this has something to do with your business? Like it represents you opening up your shop or whatever."

"Nice," Hansol smiled. "You aren't that far off from the original meaning."

"Fuck, okay. Can I do the next card?"

Hansol nodded. Wonwoo picked out the second card to represent Hansol's present, the Wheel of Fortune.

"So I guess this represents good luck?" Wonwoo asked, staring at the wheel. "Or maybe you'll go on the game show."

"Unlikely," Hansol laughed. "And what does my future hold?"

Wonwoo picked out the last card, took one look at it and frowned.

"Okay I have no clue what the hell this means." He flipped it around to show Hansol. "What the fuck is the Knight of Cups?"

"You tell me."

"I don't know dude! So, like, he's on a horse. Does a horse mean adventure? What's the cup for? What's in the cup? And why is he holding it while riding a horse? Who even does that?!"

Wonwoo tried his best to put on an annoyed face but it was hard while Hansol was laughing hysterically at his attempt to read the card.

"Hey! I tried my best, okay?" Wonwoo said, the sides of his lips perking up at Hansol's laughter. "I'm sure you know what it means anyway." He paused. "You mind telling me what it means?"

"That's for you to figure out," Hansol said.

"Fine, whatever. You got your reading, I got my practice. Good enough for today. Did you restock on those opals?"

\------------

Hansol put the last touches on the drawing before pushing it aside and pulling out his sewing basket. After Wonwoo had raided Hansol's crystals for whatever interesting ones he could find, Hansol tried to make progress on the sigil for the long haired witch.

Planning the sigil was the hardest part of the process. It took him hours, days, sometimes even weeks, for the right design to appear in his mind. He would then sketch it out multiple times, fixing it wherever necessary.

The most enjoyable part was making a physical version of the sigil. Some witches liked their sigils as keychains or pins to carry around with them. Some liked large cross-stitch circles that they could hang on their bedroom door.

As the witch requested, Hansol was expected to sew a patch, maybe so the witch could iron it onto a jacket or a bag. He lay out a couple of squares of cloth, tracing lines, cutting and sewing. Patches took about an afternoon if he wasn't busy, and there weren't many customers around that day anyway.

Sewing was another one of the skills his mother left him behind with. She was skilled in multiple forms of witchcraft, and had tried to give him as much of it as possible before she left.

"I'm going to teach you to sew," she had said one afternoon. Hansol might have been around twelve years old at the time.

"I don't want to learn to sew." Hansol could put up a fuss sometimes.

"You'll like it. It's relaxing, and you can do so much with it."

Hansol did find it relaxing. After she made sure he was familiar with it, he liked to sew little designs onto scraps of fabric he'd find lying around. Sometimes he'd sew hearts, or stars, or maybe even a small cat if he had enough time. Though he loved it, he knew it wasn't his special ability. It was fun, but he knew his ability was supposed to be special, and this didn't feel like it.

Hansol pulled the needle through in a wave like pattern, adding intricate designs to the sigil. A small flourish here, a quick symbol there.

Four hours and twenty minutes later, Hansol picked up the patch with a satisfied smile.

A moment after, the door swung open and the long haired witch stepped in. Hansol stared in disbelief as the witch waved casually.

"You're done with the sigil?" the witch asked. Hansol nodded and picked it up to show him.

"HOLY SHIT," the witch screamed, grabbing the patch out of Hansol's hands to take a closer look. "HOW DID YOU DESIGN THIS?! THE SYMBOLS LINE UP PERFECTLY AND I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS COMBINATION BEFORE!"

"It wasn't that hard," Hansol said, knowing perfectly well that designing a sigil was hard.

"Thank you so much!" he exclaimed, leaning over the counter to give Hansol a sort of half hug. "The next time you see me, I'll be wearing a jacket with the patch on it."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Hansol laughed. The witch pulled out of his pocket a few notes, a polished blue crystal, and a bottle with what appeared to be a sparkly liquid inside.

"I hope this is alright for payment. The bottle is a special made potion. My friend's a brewer."

"This is fine," Hansol said, picking up the stone and rolling it around in his palm. Wonwoo might have liked it. "Thanks for coming by."

"No, thank  _you_ , again for the sigil," the witch said, blowing an exaggerated kiss - sort of how Wonwoo would, Hansol noticed - and waved before leaving.

Hansol followed him to the door and turned over the  _Open_ sign so it now read  _Closed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the length and the lack of verkwan in this chapter. i know it it looks like filler but I promise everything has a purpose, tbh I’m not really the type to write filler. BUT to make up for this, the next chapter is gonna be way longer and its aLL verkwan
> 
> *trump voice* its gonna be yuuuuge


	5. A Collection of Moments pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friendship blossoms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is, as mentioned, a collection of moments shared between Hansol and Seungkwan. They are separate events, randomly spread out over a course of multiple weeks. Take this as a sort of peek into the blooming of their friendship.

Seungkwan had taken to spending most of his free time in the shop. Hansol had wondered how it was even possible he had that much free time, but he was enjoying Seungkwan’s presence too much to question it, and for fear that he might jinx something.

“So what does this potion do?” Seungkwan asked in his usual bubbly way. This was the eighth potion he had picked off Hansol’s shelf and asked about, and it didn’t seem like he’d be stopping this tirade anytime soon.

Hansol glanced over at the ribbon wrapped around the potion bottle, his signature design. It was yellow with purple stripes.

“Disillusionment potion.”

“Like invisibility?” Seungkwan asked excitedly, looking at the potion in his hand with starry eyes.

“Kind of, not really.”

“Can I try it?”

“You asked me if you could try the last seven potions and you know I don’t have an answer other than no.”

Seungkwan pouted, which Hansol was learning was something he did often. Or maybe his small, perfect pink lips were just always like that.

“You’re so mean,” he complained playfully, placing the bottle back on the shelf and scouring for another. “What’s this one?” he asked again, showing Hansol. White ribbon, red roses.

“Love potion.”

“Holy crap,” Seungkwan sort of yell-whispered, turning the bottle over in his hand. “These actually exist? Every time I read a book or watched a show and they used a love potion, I couldn’t believe they worked. How does a mixture of random ingredients make someone fall in love?”

“It’s not real love,” Hansol explained, leaning forward over the counter closer to Seungkwan. “Nothing can recreate real love, that’s far too powerful of a thing to do. Love potions give a person a sort of… materialistic love. Like lust.”

“Ohhh. So it’s like an illusion of love. Got it.” Seungkwan put the love potion back on the shelf and continued looking through the others.

“I notice you didn’t ask to try the potion,” Hansol said.

Seungkwan’s face reddened. “Who would I try it on?”

“I was kidding,” Hansol teased. “Also that’s a color changing potion you’re holding there.”

“Can I try it?”

“Of course not.”

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

“So why are we running to the convenience store at eight in the morning?”

“Because I promised I would create a charm bag for a customer by today and I completely forgot that I ran out of the herbs I needed.”

“How irresponsible,” Seungkwan shook his head jokingly and followed Hansol through the glass door into the shop. The fluorescent lights were pointlessly bright with all the morning sunlight shining in through the large windows.“Why’d you have to drag me along anyways?”

“Because you decided to show up before I even opened shop and I don’t want to leave you in there with the spell books alone,” Hansol laughed.

“Scared I’m going to blow up the shop or something?”

“If you can teleport, you can probably blow up the shop with a random spell. Mind grabbing me some sticks of vanilla?” Hansol said, pointing down an aisle. “I need to get some incense from the back.”

Seungkwan nodded and began scanning the jars of herbs and spices.

“Vanilla… vanilla…” he repeated to himself quietly. Why these bottles couldn’t have labels was a reason unbeknownst to him. Sure, it was a family run store, but they could at least consider labels so people like Seungkwan, who didn’t know the first thing about herbs, could tell them apart. Maybe he should convince Hansol to label the potion bottles in his store.

He picked a bottle off a shelf. There were some scratchy looking brown sticks inside. Vanilla sticks?

“What’s taking you so long?”

Seungkwan turned and saw Hansol peering at him from the end of the aisle. He was holding a small case of incense sticks.

“Is this vanilla?” Seungkwan asked, lifting up the bottle.

Hansol moved closer. “That’s cinnamon.” He paused. “Have you seriously never eaten cinnamon?”

“Do cinnamon rolls count?”

Hansol sighed, though Seungkwan noticed the soft smile on his face. He took the bottle from Seungkwan’s hand and put it back on the shelf. He then reached over the other and pulled another bottle off the shelf. The sticks in this one were darker and more chalkier.

“This one’s vanilla,” he explained, lifting it up to eye level between them so Seungkwan could see. Through the blurriness of the glass jar and vanilla sticks, he could see Seungkwan wasn’t looking at the sticks, and instead, his eyes were on Hansol, curved into cheerful half-moons. Hansol brought the jar back down and returned the smile.

“I have to finish that charm bag. Shall we get back to the store?”

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Hansol picked up a pile of books off the counter and strode over to the shelf.

“Need any help?” Seungkwan called from the couch, where he was trying his hardest to make a pencil levitate. It wasn’t working very well. Mostly because his power wasn't levitation.

“I don’t think so,” Hansol replied. He picked up the book at the top of the pile and read the cover before placing it in the shelf.

Seungkwan put down the pencil and watched Hansol categorize the next few books. “So do you have a technique or something?”

“Yeah,” Hansol said. “They’re organized by the type of book, and then by title. So the rarer books are on this side because they're more expensive, and potion books are here, and spell books are here, and-”

“Okay, that’s really boring,” Seungkwan interrupted.

Hansol looked at the older boy over his shoulder. “Boring?”

“It’s such a boring way to categorize,” Seungkwan explained. “You should do something special. Like by color.”

Hansol took a moment before bursting out in laughter.

“I’m being serious!” Seungkwan pouted. Hansol was starting to adore that pout. “What about in order of how old the book is?”

“Same difference,” Hansol said, still giggling.

“What kind of dumb excuse is that? Either it’s same or it’s different. And it's  _different_.”

“It’s just an oxymoron.”

“ _You’re_  an oxymoron.”

Hansol seriously couldn’t stop laughing.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

“You’ve spent so much time in my shop even my cat loves you.”

Seungkwan smiled down at Kiki, who was purring happily at his warm strokes. Hansol was in the chair behind the counter again, his head resting in his palms as he watched them.

“I can’t help it,” Seungkwan said. “I just love your shop. And your cat.”

“That’s pretty obvious.”

“What’d you say her full name was?” Seungkwan began to play with Kiki’s ears, which earned him a small slap with her paw.

“Kikimora,” Hansol replied.

“Kikimora,” Seungkwan repeated. “That’s such a strange name. Why couldn’t you name her something normal, like Oreo or Boots or Salem?”

“Because she doesn’t have white spots or leg markings, and I’m more creative than that.”

“Salem’s a nice name though.”

“Yeah, but it’s where the witch trials happened.”

“Too depressing, huh. Sometimes I even forget that I’m a witch too.” He paused briefly as Kiki stretched herself out. Clearly she was too comfortable with Seungkwan. Hansol was going to have to use the expensive cat food to win her back.

“Where’s the name from anyway? Some weird obscure reference or just a random name?”

“It’s Russian,” Hansol leaned forward in his hands. “It’s the name of a house spirit. She’s really terrifying, but if your house is neat and in order then she takes care of the chickens.”

The older boy’s eyes lit up. “You have chickens?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Hansol laughed. “But I’m making jjimdak later if you don’t mind sticking around until dinnertime.”

“I haven’t had jjimdak in a while,” Seungkwan said. “You sure you don’t mind me staying for dinner?”

“Of course not. The alternative is eating dinner alone. Or with Kiki.”

“Maybe I should stay for dinner more often then.”

“I’d like that,” Hansol said, earning a blush from Seungkwan.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Hansol felt slightly pretentious as he laid out his tarot cards on the table to show Seungkwan.

Seungkwan, sitting opposite Hansol, eyed the colorful designs. “So your special ability is, like, reading the cards?”

“I guess so.”

Seungkwan had never gotten a tarot reading before, much less actually touched a set of authentic tarot cards. Back when he didn’t actually believe in witchcraft, tarot cards were simply a fancy way of predicting the future - not that he believed they could do that, but he’d seen enough to believe it now.

“Can you do me?”

Hansol looked up at him. “You want me to give you a reading?”

“Yes, Mr. Fortune Teller,” Seungkwan said, waving his hands theatrically, “tell me my futuuuuuure.”

Hansol smiled at his dramatics. He pushed the cards back into a pile to shuffle them.

“Does that say DEATH?” Seungkwan screeched, pointing at the card Hansol picked out first.

Hansol rolled his eyes. “Well, the first card is supposed to represent your past, so unless you’re a ghost it’d be safe for both of us to assume it doesn’t actually represent that you're dead.”

“How do you know I’m not a ghost?” Seungkwan asked playfully, tugging at his cheeks in an effort to look scary.

“You look ridiculous.”

“I’m too cute to be a ghost anyway,” Seungkwan huffed.

Hansol let out a chuckle. “I should have expected you to exaggerate the death card. It’s like something Wonwoo would do.”

“Wonwoo? Is that your crystal obsessed friend? You’ve never introduced me to him. He must be the most amazing person for you to compare me to him.”

Hansol smirked. “Did that sound like a compliment? It wasn’t a compliment.”

“Oh, be quiet. You know I’m amazing,” Seungkwan bragged, softly hitting Hansol’s shoulder as a reminder of some sort.

“Am I supposed to know that?” Hansol asked. Teasing Seungkwan was far too fun.

“Yes! You’ve known me for more than a month now! I should expect you to know that much.”

Hansol sighed. “Yeah, sure, you’re amazing.”

Seungkwan squealed excitedly. “Okay, now tell me my future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> was this enough fluff for you????? yeah i know it says pt1 in the title because you’re getting another round sometime later in the fic. won’t say when yet though muahahahhahaha. anyway i hope you liked whatever this was. i've taken to putting cute photos of verkwan int he media on wattpad so if you want to see the cute cover i made or the pictures of them then check that out, whatever. next chapter next week, love ya!


	6. Wonwoo Probably Ships VerKwan Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonwoo finds out about Seungkwan.

Hansol flipped the sign in the window to signal that the shop was open. He had gotten a text from Seungkwan stating that he wouldn’t be able to meet him that morning due to some personal, non-witch related stuff. While they had in fact spent almost the entire week together (and pretty much every day, every week before that), Hansol still expected to miss the sunshiney presence he had gotten used to.

The most surprising thing about the friendship was how fast they had grown close to each other. It was no secret that Hansol was an introvert. He spent most of his teenage years alone, spare for a few close friends from school. He liked his social circles to be kept small, and it gave him more time for himself, just as he liked.

His mom was more of the sociable type, and his younger sister, Sofia, followed suit. His mom liked to spend a lot of her time out, either with her coven or non-witch friends. Sofia was popular at the school she went to, and was usually found surrounded by a posse of similar looking girls. Maybe Hansol got his introverted personality from his dad, who he didn’t know well enough to confirm.

As with most introverts, Hansol got his energy from being alone. Not that this meant he  _liked_  being alone. Spending evenings with Kiki on his lap and the TV on in the background could only entertain him for so long. The interesting thing with being around Seungkwan though, was it didn’t exhaust him the way it did when he was around others. It was as if Seungkwan’s smiley attitude and endless energy somehow transferred onto him. It was like a cycle of endless happiness, and Hansol didn’t want it to ever end.

As expected, Wonwoo stopped by not long after Hansol opened up shop. But instead of his usual manner of entering, which would be something along the lines of a cheerful greeting and a wave, this morning’s entrance was a violent storming into the shop after slamming the door open so hard Hansol was certain it was about to fall off the hinges.

“YOU DICKHEAD!” Wonwoo screeched, the words echoing off the bookshelved walls. “YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T TELL ME!”

Hansol froze. “Tell you what?”

Wonwoo threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. “There you go again! Acting like you don’t know anything when in reality you totally do!”

“What are you talking about?” Hansol yelled back, half amused-half confused.

“The goddamn tarot card, that’s what!”

“What?”

Wonwoo sighed and threw himself down on the couch. Hansol wondered if he’d ever find anyone more dramatic than him. Except maybe Seungkwan, but that was a given.

“How could you seriously not have told me?”

Hansol sat on the armchair across from him. “Tell you what, exactly?”

“What the Knight of Cups means, duh.”

There was a brief silence. “The tarot card?”

“Yes, the tarot card!” Wonwoo yelled. “What other knight could I be possibly asking about?”

Hansol paused. It had been so long since Wonwoo had given him the reading, and with Seungkwan and the store and Kiki keeping him busy, he had completely forgotten about it. “So, you, uh-”

“Yeah, I figured it out! Knight? As in knight in shining armor? As in your prince charming? Honestly how did I not realize it sooner?”

Bright rosy red began to cover Hansol's features, which Wonwoo did not hesitate to point out.

“I knew it! You did meet someone! Who is it? Are they cute? You  _have_  to introduce me to them. I’m pretty much your best friend at this point, and you know the unwritten rule that your best friend gets to decide on your boyfriend-slash-girlfriend.”

“I can make my decisions about my love life myself, thank you very much,” Hansol laughed. “Also he’s not my boyfriend. We’re just friends.”

“So it’s a he! Did my gayness rub off on you?” Wonwoo gasped. “Are you stuck in the same situation I am? Where you desperately need him to be your boyfriend but he’s completely ignoring you?”

“Why are all your problems so petty? I’m totally fine with being friends.”

“I can see it in your eyessssss,” Wonwoo said hypnotically. It didn’t work.

“Stop bothering me about my friendships. You don’t even know the guy.”

“Which is why I should meet him! Is he coming around anytime soon?” Wonwoo asked, his eyes large with excitement.

Hansol sighed, knowing even if he lied about it Wonwoo wouldn’t let it go. “This afternoon, maybe.”

“Okay, perfect, I can wait till then.”

“I have customers to tend to!”

Wonwoo glanced around the empty store. “Do you really?”

“I will! Later!” Hansol said, flustered.

“I’ll just hang around here. You do your thing.”

Hansol rubbed at his forehead. “Don’t you, like, have a job?”

“No, I live in my parent’s basement,” Wonwoo retorted. Hansol couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm.

“Fine, whatever. Just don’t be annoying.”

“I won’t,” he replied with his hand up in a scout’s promise. As far as Hansol knew, Wonwoo had never been a scout.

He rolled his eyes and headed back to his counter.

Unlike Wonwoo’s predictions, the rest of his day was a bit busier. One of Hansol’s customers, perhaps an older lady, must have spread word about his shop, because he was visited by multiple elderly women that day looking for rare herbs and spices. Even if he wasn’t a convienience store, he wouldn’t mind selling bottled herbs if it meant more visitors.

“Do you have any rosemary?” a kindly old lady asked in her soft, croaky voice. Her round glasses were sliding down her nose. “My daughter has been saying I should use it more often.”

“I do have some,” Hansol said, pulling a small pouch of dried rosemary out of a box. “How much do you need?”

“Only a little.”

Hansol transferred a bit into a miniature glass jar and tied off the top with a pink ribbon.

“Did you know the goddess Aphrodite was wrapped in rosemary when she rose from the sea?” Hansol mused as he rang up the items.

“Did she really?” the woman said happily. “You’re a smart one.”

Hansol laughed. “You’re too kind. Here you go,” he said, handing over the jar of rosemary in a small cloth bag.

“Thank you,” the woman replied, leaving a few extra coins in the tip jar. Fun facts about stuff seemed to always do the trick.

“What a charmer,” Wonwoo called to him from across the room after she left. “Is your sweet talk how you managed to seduce your boyfriend?”

“Fucking hell, I didn’t seduce him. And he’s not my boyfriend.”

Wonwoo smirked. “We can make sure about that once he gets here.”

At around four, the entrance bells rang softly. Hansol looked up and saw Seungkwan at the door.

“Good afternoooon,” Seungkwan called in a singsongy voice.

“Hey,” Hansol replied, quickly glancing at Wonwoo to see if he had noticed, which apparently he had, since he had thrown aside the spellbook he was holding and looking up and down at the visitor.

“Uh, this is Wonwoo,” Hansol said to Seungkwan, gesturing at him.

“So  _you’re_  Wonwoo!” Seungkwan said, bouncing over to the armchair and settling down in it. “Hansol has told me about you.”

“Really? Because he hasn’t told me much about you,” Wonwoo said, sideeyeing Hansol. Hansol rolled his eyes and joined them on the couch next to Wonwoo.

“I’m Seungkwan,” the brunette introduced himself.

“Are you a witch too?” Wonwoo asked, not even being careful in case he wasn’t.

Seungkwan nodded. “I didn’t even know I was until about a month ago.”

“Did you discover your powers on accident?” Wonwoo asked. “I discovered my powers accidentally too.”

“Your  _power_  is crystals,” Hansol rolled his eyes. “How could you discover that?”

“Oh, did you forget?” Wonwoo laughed. “I told you I discovered I was a witch when I accidentally performed a spell that I didn’t know was a spell until my friend’s hair changed colors. Nothing to do with my expertise on crystals.”

Seungkwan laughed. “That’s better than mine. I accidentally teleported into Hansol’s shop and was super freaked out. He had to give me a cup of tea to get me to calm down, and I didn’t believe what he was telling me until he gave me a silencing elixir.”

“A silencing elixir!” Wonwoo turned to Hansol incredulously. “You’re evil!”

“I had to prove it somehow! At least I didn’t turn his hair blue.”

“I turned my friend’s hair pink, for your information,” Wonwoo said, turning his nose up. “But teleportation, holy shit, that’s cool.”

“I can’t really control it. Hansol’s been helping me practice, but I still can’t do much.”

“He’s been helping you, has he?” Wonwoo replied, turning to Hansol and raising an eyebrow, as if hinting they’d been doing something else. Hansol stuck his tongue out at him.

“Yeah, he’s taught me so much,” Seungkwan continued, oblivious to the silent quarrel happening right in front of him.

“He’s taught you  _so_  much,” Wonwoo teased. Hansol reached over and smacked him on the arm.

“Hey,” Wonwoo stopped teasing to turn back to Seungkwan. “I know a guy that can teleport. He’s really good too, he can teleport other people with him too. You should learn with him.”

“You’ve never told me about this guy,” Hansol asked.

“He’s the leader of the coven I joined a while back. He’s super skilled at, like, everything. And he trained a couple other members too, so he could probably train you as well. Why don’t you guys tag along to one of our coven meetings and see if you like it? I don’t think he’d have a problem with training you.”

Seungkwan looked like he was lost in thought. “A coven?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I promise it's not as intimidating as it sounds. We just chill for a few hours and sometimes do rituals and shit.”

Hansol looked over at Seungkwan. He didn’t want to force him to do anything he didn’t want to, especially since this was all new to him, and it was mostly for him and training his powers anyway.

Seungkwan’s small lips were pressed into a thin line, and his eyes were unfocused, as if he were thinking very hard about it.

Wonwoo must have noticed it, because he added, “Everyone’s really nice, I promise.”

He let the tension go and smiled. “I don’t see why not.”

“Excellent,” Wonwoo beamed. “Our next meeting is this Friday at four. I’ll stop by the shop to pick you guys up.”

“Does your coven have a name?” Seungkwan asked.

Wonwoo nodded. “Seventeenth Street Coven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the length of this chapter. after last chapter i’m sure this seems really short lmao. but its ok because important stuff is comingggggggggggggggggggggg


	7. Hansol’s Bitchy Girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first coven meeting.

Come Friday, Seungkwan didn’t know what to expect of the coven. In the few days in between his meeting with Wonwoo and Friday, Hansol had taught him whatever little knowledge he had about covens - that they gathered for special occasions, that most often they were just groups of friends, that there were both good and evil covens and you needed to be able to choose carefully.

 

Hansol’s mother, when he was younger, sometimes left in the afternoons to visit her coven. She wouldn’t come back until late evening - sometimes tired, sometimes a bit more joyful - depending on the day.

“How was the meeting?” a tiny Hansol would ask.

“Good,” she would reply.

“What did you do?”

“We performed a ritual.”

“Is that the one with candles and singing?”

“Yes, Hansol,” she said, lifting him onto her lap like she knew he liked.

“That sounds fun. I want to join a coven.”

“Maybe when you grow older, you can join a coven with your friends.”

“And then I can do rituals and light candles and sing with them?”

“Yes, Hansol. When you’re a full grown witch, you can do all the rituals you want.”

 

Wonwoo had picked them up at a quarter to four, after Hansol closed shop earlier than he normally would. The covenstead was a fifteen minute walk - Wonwoo clearly planned this well - and upon arrival, Seungkwan was surprised to see a lovely, modern townhouse instead of the dark, spooky tower he was imagining.

A small sign hung on the front door: 17SC.

“17th Street Coven,” Wonwoo explained, and then added quietly, “or Seungcheol, because he loves himself that much.”

He lead them up the front steps, which were lined with neatly potted plants in brown pots. Before Wonwoo even knocked, a shout could be heard from inside.

“WONWOO’S HERE!”

A moment later, the door swung open slightly, enough for a boy, maybe a few years older than Hansol and Seungkwan, peered out.

“Password,” he grinned.

“Hoshi, I swear to god-” Wonwoo began to complain.

“I’m not letting you in unless you say the password,” Hoshi continued playfully.

“We don’t have a password,” Wonwoo groaned. “Just let us in.”

“But what if you were a left-hand path in disguise?”

“I’m not a left-hand path in disguise, oh my fu-”

Hansol nudged Wonwoo.”Just say the password maybe?”

“Your friend knows what’s up,” Hoshi winked at Hansol. “Say it.”

Wonwoo looked up at the sky in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

“You have to. It’s the rules.”

“We don’t have any rules! Fine. Whatever.  _Kwon Soonyoung is the best witch.”_

  “You know that’s right,” Hoshi grinned and shut the door for a second. Wonwoo sighed deeply and mumbled something along the lines of "why are we friends".

A few locks and bolts could be heard being opened before Hoshi pulled the door open completely. “The locks are just extra safety measures,” he explained to Hansol and Seungkwan, “along with the protection spells. And the password. Specially made by me.”

Wonwoo punched Hoshi in the arm as they entered a long, narrow hallway. There was only one window, a small round glass pane at the end of the hall next to a staircase. There were multiple wooden doors on each side, each carved with a unique intricate design. Hansol recognized a few of them as sigils, for things such as happiness and luck.

“You don’t have to make me do that every time,” Wonwoo said to Hoshi as they made their way down the hallway.

“Yeah I do,” the other witch laughed. He bounced around to look at the guests. “And who are you two? Not left hand path witches I hope?”

“Of course not,” Hansol laughed. Seungkwan felt like he was missing out on a joke. “I’m Hansol. This is Seungkwan.”

“Nice to meet you, Hansol and Seungkwan,” he said, his eyes almost disappearing into his cheeks as they rose with a smile. He looked like a hamster. “Everyone’s in the den. Minghao’s in the kitchen brewing iced teas. Seokmin’s a bit late, unfortunately.” He pouted sadly at the last comment.

"You're literally the only person who cares," Wonwoo said.

 “Okay, rude," Hoshi said, stopping at the last door and pushing it open.

It’s not like Hansol was expecting there to be evil looking witches huddled over a black cauldron that was spewing sticky green magic in a dark room. That sounded like something Seungkwan’s imaginative brain might conjure. But even Hansol had to admit the coven was a bit more domestic than he expected. There were only three witches in the bright, airy room, spread out on armchairs and beanbag chairs. An unlit fireplace made to look like a traditional brick one was on one side, surrounded by portraits and paintings, colorful against the accent wall, and on the other sides were large windows that overlooked the quiet street.

“Wonwoo, you made it!” someone called from one of the armchairs. He looked around the same age as Wonwoo, handsome and dark haired.

“Duh, if I didn’t, there’d only be like three people to do today’s ritual.”

Another witch, younger than the rest, with sharp eyes and a kitten on his lap, piped up. “Okay, first of all, there’s seven of us, including your guests. Second, I know you’re just bitter because Mingyu isn’t here.”

Wonwoo’s face turned a violent shade of red. “Not true,” he sputtered out and threw himself onto a beanbag. Hansol and Seungkwan took seats on a couch next to each other.

“I’m Chan,” the witch with the kitten introduced himself.

“We call him Dino,” Hoshi offered, to which Chan returned an angry squint.

“Anyway, that’s Jun-,” he pointed at the first witch, the handsome one, “-and that’s Seungcheol.” He pointed at another witch, who had been sitting quietly in a rocking chair writing something into a small tattered notebook. He looked up when he heard Chan say his name and gave them a smile. He had almond eyes with long eyelashes and round red lips, and was wearing a white collared shirt a size too big for him.

“He’s the coven leader,” Jun explained. “He attends every meeting.”

“Are you two just stopping by with Wonwoo or did he convince you to try and join?” Seungcheol asked them. Wonwoo huffed.

“Both?” Hansol answered, scratching the back of his head.

Seungcheol chuckled. “What are your powers?”

Hansol hesitated. “Tarot cards.”

“Tarot cards, huh? I see we have a professional. I do readings sometimes, but only casually. And you?” He gestured to Seungkwan.

“Teleportation?” Seungkwan answered, not even sure of himself. Hansol poked him in the arm to remind him to relax. These witches weren’t intimidating in the least, but he had to remember all of this was new to Seungkwan.

Seungcheol seemed impressed. “We don’t have anyone in the coven who can do that yet. Except me.”

“Yeah, because you can do everything,” Chan whined and rolled his eyes.

“Listen it was either between me and Jihoon to be leader and you know how angry he gets when he gets something wrong, so be happy I’m your leader.”

“At least Jihoon's smart,” Chan grumbled under his breath.

Seungcheol continued like he didn’t hear it. “Jun can astral project, which is maybe the closest thing to physical projection, your power.”

“Astral projection?” Seungkwan asked.

“I can send my mind into a different time, place, or dimension without actually moving my body,” Jun explained.

“Woahhhhhhh,” Seungkwan exclaimed. “That’s amazing.”

“It’s just being able to use  _this_  right,” Jun laughed, pointing at his head.

“What’s Chan’s power?” Seungkwan looked over at the younger boy. Chan replied by pointing at the kitten in his lap.

“I’m a green witch. Plants and animals and stuff.”

Seungkwan’s eyes grew large. “You can talk to animals? That’s the best one! Why couldn’t I have gotten that power?”

“Teleportation’s pretty rad,” Hoshi offered.

“Yeah, but I’m no good at it,” Seungkwan grumbled.

“I’d take teleportation over being able to make plants grow faster any day,” Chan said.

“Should we switch?” Seungkwan joked.

The door swung open again and a boy walked in carrying a tray of tall glasses. A pair of circular glasses sat on his round nose, and a long earring dangled off one of his earlobes. He kicked the door shut behind him and dumped the tray on the table in the middle of the room.

“I wish Jeonghan was here to levitate the tray so I didn’t have to,” he grumbled.

“Why are you always complaining about stuff you’re supposed to do?” Jun called out.

“Why are  _you_  always poking your dumb nose into places it doesn’t need to be?” he shot back.

“Shut up, I know you like my nose,” Jun said, and Hansol saw the boy slyly wink.

“That’s Minghao,” Wonwoo said, leaning forward to grab one of the glasses off the tray. “Our potions expert.”

Minghao nodded at them as he propped himself on a chair next to Hoshi. “Who’re they?”

“Seungkwan, teleportation, and Hansol, tarot cards,” Seungcheol answered.

“New members?”

“Not quite yet.”

“Cool. Iced tea?”

Hansol got two glasses for himself and Seungkwan.

“Wonwoo mentioned you trained some of the members?” Seungkwan asked Seungcheol.

The leader nodded. “I trained one of our members in divination, and Hoshi here also needed a bit of help perfecting his obscurity.”

“I couldn’t stay invisible for more than ten seconds when I first started,” Hoshi laughed. “Seokmin just about got a heart attack when I materialized without letting him know I was there.”

“Don’t tell us about your stalker-ish tendencies,” Jun scolded. “That’s so weird.”

“Someone has to watch over him!”

“I was actually wondering if you would be able to train me for a bit?” Seungkwan asked.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Seungcheol said, and Seungkwan’s eyes lit up. “It will require you to become an official coven member though. You too, Hansol. We don’t have a tarot specialist yet, and I sense Seungkwan will be more comfortable if you joined with him.”

Seungkwan looked over at Hansol, silently asking if he’d agree to it.

“I’ll join with him,” Hansol said to Seungcheol, and he could hear Seungkwan sigh softly next to him in relief next to him.

“Woo, new members!” Hoshi clapped excitedly.

Meanwhile, the door opened and another witch, tall with high cheekbones and a pointed nose, stepped in. He noticed Hoshi cheering and stopped in his path.

“So what did I miss?”

“SEOKMIN, YOU’RE HERE!” Hoshi screamed and jumped out of his seat.

“Dammit, we’re going to have to deal with Hoshi fanboying over him for the next few hours,” Wonwoo groaned and smushed his face into a throw pillow.

“This is Seokmin,” Hoshi said to Hansol and Seungkwan, pulling Seokmin practically onto his lap in his excitement. Seokmin just laughed and sat himself next to him. “He’s a healing witch.”

“Still learning,” Seokmin admitted. “Medical school takes eight years, you know.”

“Yeah, he wants to be an actual non-magic doctor too. That would make him a witch doctor! He’s so cute, this guy,” Hoshi said, attempting to pinch the younger one’s cheeks, which resulted in his hand getting swatted away.

“You see what I mean?” Wonwoo said pointedly, though neither of them seemed to have noticed his complaint.

“Why were you late?” Hoshi asked in a softer voice, leaning into Seokmin. Hansol looked away. This seemed more private, like a concern between close friends or something more.

“Is this everyone?” Seungkwan asked, looking around the room.

“Everyone for today’s meeting,” Seungcheol said. “We have four other members, but they’ll be joining next week’s meeting instead. Usually the whole coven doesn’t have to show up unless it’s a special occasion.”

“Like what?” Seungkwan inquired.

“Like Samhain,” and then added when Seungkwan tilted his head in confusion, “also known as Halloween.”

“You celebrate Halloween in the coven?”

“We need to hold a ritual for Samhain at midnight, but we like to have a little Halloween party before, just to get into the spooky spirit.”

“That’s what he’s been scribbling into that notebook,” Minghao pointed out, “plans and stuff for the party and ritual.”

“It’s one of the biggest events in the Wiccan calendar, so I like to start planning early. And since you two,” he pointed at Hansol and Seungkwan, “are going to become official members, you should join us.”

“Yes!” Seungkwan exclaimed before Hansol could say anything. “We’d love to.” He looked over at Hansol, and he had nothing bad to say, especially to those smiley cheeks of his. Besides, it was just a little bit of partying, and he  _had_  performed the Samhain ritual himself the year before.

“Speaking of becoming official members, you’ll need to come back on Tuesday so Jihoon can perform the entry tests and ritual. I promise its not as intimidating as it sounds."

Seungkwan nodded seriously.

“We’re preparing for Mabon, or Fall Equinox today. It’s next week, so we’ve got to plan the rituals and everything. You two don’t have to join if you don’t want to.”

“Could we join?” Seungkwan asked. Hansol was surprised at his enthusiasm for everything that Seungcheol offered. “I want to be part of a ritual.”

“It’s not  _that_  great,” Wonwoo said, earning a smack on the back of his head from Seungcheol.

“You can join. I’ll let you know what time to get here. I’ll also have to get back to you about how often we can train.”

“Thank you so much!” Seungkwan exclaimed. Joining the coven really was the best idea, Hansol thought, look at how happy he was.

“So,” Seungcheol said, slamming his notebook shut, “shall we get on with the rest of today’s agenda?”

The ‘agenda’, Seungkwan would come to know, was just a fancy name for hanging out and occasionally talking about plans for the next few meetings. Wonwoo’s description had been pretty accurate.

He and Jun were overlooking a heated discussion between Minghao and Dino over who was the better dancer, which was probably going to end in a dance battle between the two during the Halloween party. Hoshi and Seokmin joined in a bit later, and when Hoshi tried to point out that he was better than both of them, Dino tried to kick him from across the table. Seungkwan couldn’t stop laughing.

Seungcheol was back to being lost in thought in his notebook, occasionally writing something down when he got an idea or remembered something. Apparently this was something he did a lot. Sometimes he’d look up and say something like “how about we set up a temporary altar at the entrance?” and he’d wait for someone to respond - didn’t matter if it was a positive response or not - before burying his nose back in the book.

Seungkwan looked across the room to where Hansol was sitting with Wonwoo, having a quieter talk. Occasionally one of them would look up from the conversation to glance at Seungkwan. He wondered what they were talking about.

“Seungkwan gets along really well with people, huh?” Wonwoo asked.

Hansol nodded. “He’s super outgoing.”

“How did you end up becoming friends?”

Hansol gave him a confused look.

“I mean, you’re not exactly the most sociable. Not that it means you don’t want friends, but you’ve got a pretty small social group. And he’s pretty much the opposite of you. He’s already, like, besties with everyone here.”

“I really don’t know,” Hansol admitted. “After we met the first time, we kept running into each other, and he kept coming back to the shop for advice on stuff, so we kind of spent a lot of time together.”

“Have you considered he kept coming back because he wanted to see you?” Wonwoo asked.

Hansol shook his head. “The first two times were accidental. And he just wanted advice on magical stuff.”

“Google exists, you dumb peanut. If he needed advice he could have just looked it up online.”

“Did you just call me a dumb peanut?”

“Yeah, because you are. I think he likes spending time with you. And it’s obvious you like spending time with him too. You guys spent an entire month together and didn’t bother letting me know.”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Hansol sighed.

“Not until you’ve told me each and every one of your secrets.” He wiggled an eyebrow. Hansol rolled his eyes.

“This doesn’t mean anything, okay?” Hansol said. “We’re seriously just friends.”

“Did I say there was anything wrong with being friends? I’m your friend, and honestly that’s a bit offensive.”

“Oi, Wonwoo!” Minghao called from across the room. “You’re gonna be judge number two for our dance battle.”

“Dance battle? The fuck?”

“During the Halloween party. Dino thinks his MJ choreo beats my girl group cover.”

“It does!” Dino pouted.

“He says yes,” Hansol called. Minghao hooted.

Wonwoo turned to Hansol. “Seriously? Now I have to judge their stupid dance battle.”

“It’ll be fun. And I’m going to keep annoying you like this until you tell me who Mingyu is.”

“Listen, just because Dino likes to say shit doesn’t mean you have to listen to him.”

“It’s your almost boyfriend isn’t it?”

“Shut up.”

Hansol laughed.

“I’ll meet him next meeting anyway, and there’s no way you can stop me.”

“Yeah there is. I can break your legs.”

“Okay, calm down there.”

“Hey, Seungkwan’s coming over.”

Hansol looked up and saw Seungkwan walking towards them.

“Hey,” he said, sitting down next to Hansol.

“Is their argument over?” he asked.

“Yeah, but they’re talking about magical stuff I don’t understand now.” He paused. “What does left hand path witch mean?”

“It’s a witch that uses their powers for evil,” Hansol explained.

“Ohhh. Everything makes a lot more sense now. Anyway, what were you two gossiping about?”

“Nothing.” “Hansol’s love life.”

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow at their synchronized answers.

“He’s kidding,” Hansol said, flustered. Seungkwan didn’t miss this detail.

“He’s in a complicated situation,” Wonwoo said, ignoring him.

“Are you sure  _I’m_  the one in a complicated situation?” Hansol said. Wonwoo poked his tongue out at him.

“Complicated?” Seungkwan poked. “I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend.”

“I don’t,” Hansol tried to say, but his words were drowned by Wonwoo’s.

“Oh yeah, she’s a  _real_  bitch,” Wonwoo said, egging it on. Hansol didn’t know if he was trying to set Seungkwan up with him or confuse him entirely at this point.

“You know you can let us know about your relationship problems,” Seungkwan said, genuinely concerned.

“Yeah, dude. Misters before sisters,” Wonwoo said with a laugh. Hansol sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did the chapter title terrify you for a second? sorry about that lmao. the length of this chapter is a bit longer than normal which is p cool (the normal is about 1500, i know you need your (bi-) weekly thousand word verkwan kick i gotchu). are you enjoying the new characters??? they might be a teeny bit different from irl seventeen because im a crappy writer but overall they’re pretty much all dorks anyway. next chapter is another pile of fluff so be prepared.


	8. Purse Puppy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sweet, sweet feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> early chapter since i'll be busy this weekend ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

“You brought Hansol along, I see,” Seungcheol stated, raising an eyebrow. He opened his front door wider to let Seungkwan, followed by Hansol, in for his first training session. “Never leave the house without him?”

“What?” Seungkwan said and turned away, his face burning. “No, I just-”

“Yeah,” Hansol interjected, linking his arm with Seungkwan’s. “I’m his little purse puppy.”

“Don’t say that!” Seungkwan yelled and pulled his arm away. “That’s so weird.”

Hansol gave him a silly look, and Seungkwan rolled his eyes. Since when had he become so playful?  _Purse puppy? The fuck?_ Nonetheless, the way his heart was pounding at the nickname.

Seungcheol was laughing too hard to comment on the fact that Hansol’s comment was indeed weird. “I can see why you two get along well,” he chuckled. “Anyway, we need to get started on your lesson.”

The leader led them down the hallway and past the den and up the stairs.

“We’re going to practice in my study,” he explained, leading them up the staircase. “It’s a lot bigger than the den, and I keep all my magic tools in there.”

"A study," Seungkwan oohed. "That sounds professional. Hansol, you should get a study."

Hansol made an amused face. "I'm not as professional as Seungcheol, but I'm flattered you think I could have one."

The study, as mentioned,  _was_  a lot bigger than the den - almost twice the size. There were multiple bookshelves in the room, all appearing to be meticulously organized. Unlike the enormous windows found downstairs, Seungcheol seemed to prefer smaller, curtained ones up here. A large desk was the main focus: a pile of neatly stacked papers on one end, a small desk lamp on the other, and a sleek laptop in the middle.

“I hope you weren’t expecting a creepy witch’s lair,” he said pointedly. “Unless you enter a black magic den, you probably aren’t ever going to see that.”

“Should I feel lucky?” Seungkwan snorted.

“Yeah, black magic dens are terrifying,” Seungcheol said. “My study is like, the most peaceful place ever.”

“I hope I don’t destroy it with my lousy magic teleporting crap today.”

Seungcheol smirked. “We’ll see about that.”

 

 

“Okay, when you said your skills weren’t that great, I didn’t expect them to be  _this_  bad.”

“Hey!”

Seungcheol shook his head and looked down at Seungkwan, who was collapsed over Hansol in a dramatic manner.

“I asked you to teleport five feet,” Seungcheol said.

“I did!” Seungkwan argued, picking himself off the floor and dusting himself off.

“You teleported five feet into the exact spot Hansol was standing,” Seungcheol pointed out, helping the youngest off the ground as well. “This is the fourth time you’ve materialized right on top of him.”

“That’s not my fault,” Seungkwan protested. “You asked me to teleport within a five feet radius, and Hansol happened to be within that radius.”

“Okay, fine,” Seungcheol sighed. “Hansol, go sit behind my desk. Seungkwan, if you end up teleporting on top of my work, I swear to god-”

Seungkwan giggled evilly and Seungcheol smacked him on the arm.

“ _Okay_ , I promise I won’t,” Seungkwan said. “Or at least I'll try. What do I do next?”

Hansol watched from Seungcheol’s chair as Seungkwan attempted to teleport away from the spot he was in and laughed quietly to himself whenever he messed up. He knew Seungkwan wasn’t the type to give up easily though, so he decided he might as well sit back and watch it happen.

“Focus your energy on the center of your weight,” Seungcheol said.

“Are you calling me fat?” Seungkwan joked. His eyes curved into crescent moons as he laughed, his fragile smile lines appearing as he scrunched up his nose. He pushed a couple strands of hair out of his face and tried to concentrate again.

"You need to be able to move your physical person, which means your power needs to be centered."

"What happens if I don't focus it on the center?"

"You don't want to know."

Hansol began to laugh hysterically. Seungkwan raised an eyebrow.

"I was just thinking of how wizards apparate in Harry Potter," Hansol explained, still giggling. "Because that's kind of what you're doing. If you mess up while apparating, you'll end up disfigured or something like that."

"Holy shit!" Seungkwan gasped. "Seungcheol! You didn't tell me that was possible."

"It's not, because we aren't at Hogwarts," Seungcheol groaned. "Hansol, can you not put ridiculous thoughts into his head."

"It's not my fault he believed it," Hansol defended himself jokingly.

"But something  _has_  to happen if you do it wrong?" Seungkwan asked in an attempt to regain himself.

"Yeah, but you don't lose half your torso or leave your arm behind, so you can relax. Now, shall we continue?"

Seungkwan nodded and turned back to the leader. Hansol watched Seungkwan practice centering his energy, his eyes fluttering shut, his lashes barely grazing his pink tinged cheeks, and his mouth slightly open in an effort to concentrate.

And in the most cheesy and annoyingly romantic way possible, as the late afternoon sunlight hit the high planes of Seungkwan’s face from the small window, Hansol was left in awe.

His eye caught Seungkwan’s as they opened, and when the older noticed, he threw a quick wink in his direction and turned back before the leader could notice. In Hansol’s opinion, Seungcheol’s office chair was not the place he had been expecting to feel his heart flutter from a wink from Seungkwan. What kind of dumb feelings were these anyway?

“Hansol,” Seungcheol called, breaking him out of his spell a moment later (or had it been more than a moment?). “Where’s your head been? He just teleported.”

Seungkwan was beaming excitedly at Hansol, now standing near the wall instead of where he was before.

“I moved five feet!” he yelled. “Five whole feet!”

“Four and a half,” Seungcheol interrupted deliberately to annoy Seungkwan.

“Hey! You know I did a good job,” Seungkwan crossed his arms.

“I know, I’m just playing. Good job, seriously. It’s hard to magically transfer your actual being to a new place. Although, from what I’ve heard, you’ve teleported into Hansol’s shop multiple times,” Seungcheol said, side-eyeing Seungkwan.

“Those were accidents,” Seungkwan defended himself. “I did this one on my own!”

“Yeah, you did. We’re proud of you,” Seungcheol clapped him on the back. “Maybe once you become an expert, we can get Jun to teach you to astral project. The next best thing, you know."

"I really don't think I can do that," Seungkwan laughed. "I'll stick to practicing this for now."

"Well, if you want to practice, our next meeting’s on Thursday, and I want you to try to teleport into the house.”

“Into the house?! Don’t you have magical protections or something?”

“I’ll tweak them so you can get in,” Seungcheol said. “Practice until then too. Have Hansol help you.”

Seungkwan smiled. “Alright, sure.”

 

The weather was just starting to get colder as the two witches left Seungcheol’s house.

“Should I try teleporting back home?” Seungkwan asked, still overjoyed at his successful attempt.

“Might still be a bit risky,” Hansol said, though he knew he was probably saying it since he enjoyed his walks with the other. The streets were quiet this side of town, so it was just the two of them in the late autumn evening.

Seungkwan nodded his head thoughtfully. “Yeah, you’re right. We’re still early too. Could I come over to the shop for a while?”

“Yeah, of course,” Hansol said calmly, but there were fireworks happening inside of him. How embarrassing.

“Great,” Seungkwan beamed. He closed his eyes for a second to soak in the evening sunlight, and Hansol took the chance to regain his composure. Since when did he get so flustered just walking next to him? 

Since he realised how much he actually liked Seungkwan. Right.

“Hey, you were zoning out a bit at Seungcheol’s place.”

Hansol looked at Seungkwan questioningly.

“You seemed a bit distracted,” he explained. “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s wonderful,” Hansol said.

Seungkwan looked closely at his face for a moment, watching for any changes, and when there weren't any, he moved closer to link his arm with Hansol’s. And this time, there wasn’t much Hansol could do to hide the bright smile on his face or the fireworks going off once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey hey its a short cringey ass chapter you’re welcome ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) seriously though i’m sorry, i just needed a chapter where hansol figures out his feelings and seungkwan’s powers get better and its also kind of filler so i can have space before you meet the rest of the characters. 
> 
> also i have been busy-busy-busy so this is a short in between before we get back to our usual longer and slightly less crap content next week.
> 
> again, i love when you leave sweet comments and follow and give a kudos and all that nice stuff because it makes me smile and lets me know people actually enjoy this stuff <3


	9. Everyone Ships Meanie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another coven meeting.

Seungkwan walked up the stairs to the corner house on 17th Street, Hansol right behind him. Wonwoo was busy that afternoon and would be late, so he had asked the two of them to get to the covenstead by themselves.

The weather was brisk and chilly, and they both had on warm clothes: Hansol in the tan coat, and Seungkwan in his regular pink hoodie. Seungkwan had been gushing about how much he loved Halloween the entire walk, but how could Hansol deny that he admired the excited glint in his eye when he talked about things he loved.

Seungkwan raised his hand to knock on the painted wooden door, but paused when he heard a shout from inside again.

“Seungkwan and Hansol are here!"

They noticed it was a different voice from last time. The familiar sound of locks being opened sounded and the door swung open.

“Hey,” Minghao greeted cheerfully, stepping aside to let them in. “In the den, like usual. I’ll be in the kitchen. Are either of you allergic to anything?”

Hansol raised his hand. “Peanuts.”

“Okay, I won’t include those in the trail mix,” Minghao said and stepped into a door on their left.

“You didn’t tell me you were allergic to peanuts,” Seungkwan asked.

“Guess it never came up,” Hansol shrugged.

Seungkwan huffed. “Don’t I get the right to know everything I can about you?”

Hansol laughed. “Everything?”

Seungkwan put on a fake pout. If only he could reach out and pinch those adorable cheeks.

When they entered the door to the den, Seungcheol was the first to notice them.

“Hey, come take a seat! We were just talking about tonight’s ritual. Seungkwan, you still joining?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“Okay, good, that puts us at around eight people,” Seungcheol said to the person next to him. He looked around Seungcheol’s age, with soft brown hair and winged eyes. His upturned lips silently repeated the information as he wrote it down neatly in the binder on his lap.

“You two haven’t met Joshua. Jisoo, say hi,” Seungcheol said, nudging him. Joshua looked up and smiled at the two of them.

“That over there,” he continued, “is Jihoon.” He pointed at a petite figure, whose small eyes and fluffy ash colored hair might have made you mistake him for a kid.

“He looks six, but I promise he isn’t,” Minghao said, entering the room. A tray with a few glasses and a bowl - presumably filled with the trail mix he mentioned earlier - hovered in front of him. Jihoon made an insulted sound.

“You can make things levitate?” Seungkwan asked, his eyes full of amazement as he watched the tray place itself on the table.

Minghao shook his head and pointed back at the entrance, where another witch entered. Hansol immediately recognized him, and the witch seemed to have done the same.

“Magic shop dude!” the long haired witch said and broke into a large grin. The patch Hansol designed for him was proudly displayed on his jacket. “What are you doing here?”

“New members,” Seungcheol answered. “That’s Jeonghan, though you seem to already know him.”

“I’m Hansol,” he introduced himself. “This is Seungkwan.”

“Now you’re a part of our coven! Do I get a discount?”

“Jeonghan!” Joshua scolded. Jeonghan laughed.

“ _You_  can make things levitate then?” Seungkwan asked.

Jeonghan nodded proudly.

“It’s because he’s lazy to actually get up and walk somewhere to do something,” Joshua shook his head. As if to prove his point, Jeonghan lifted his hand and made a glass float over to him.

“Anyway, that’s Mingyu over there being all quiet for once,” Seungcheol said pointing at a tall boy over on the couch across from them.

So  _that’s_ Mingyu, Hansol thought. He could see why everyone teased Wonwoo about him. He was tall, with dark skin and a face like an actor.

“I’m sick, okay,” Mingyu grinned, revealing a pair of prominent canines. “DK said I shouldn’t talk so much.”

“Maybe he said that to get you to actually stop talking,” Jeonghan joked.

“Are you kidding? DK’s the one who doesn’t shut up.”

“If Hoshi was here, he’d probably have stabbed you for saying that,” Joshua said.

“Maybe he’s already here,  _invisible.”_ Jeonghan said to Mingyu, breaking into a sneaky grin. Mingyu gasped.

“Be quiet,” Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “If Hoshi was here, Jihoon would have sensed it already. Now, can we please plan the Samhain ritual?”

Jeonghan leaned forward to place his hand on Seungcheol’s knee. “You know that’s just code for Halloween party?” he joked.

"We can  _try_  to make this official," Seungcheo tutted, then turned back to the group. “Any help then?”

“A trampoline,” Mingyu unhelpfully suggested.

Joshua looked at the notebook, which was now in Seungcheol’s hands. “Minghao offered to be bartender,” he said softly.

Seungcheol looked up at Minghao.

“I have a new set of elixir crystals,” Minghao explained.

“Perfect,” Seungcheol said. He turned back to the book and made a note. “I guess you would have been the perfect choice for it anyway.”

At that moment, Wonwoo burst through the door and announced, “Guys, we have to get a trampoline for the Halloween party!”

Jihoon groaned. Wonwoo paused to stare in confusion.

“You guys were seriously made for each other,” Seungcheol said quietly, rolling his eyes.

“Why don’t you let them get to know the others for a bit?” Joshua suggested, gesturing mostly at Hansol and Seungkwan. “We can plan this on our own.”

“Fine. No trampolines though.”

Mingyu and Wonwoo simultaneously sighed.

Seungkwan, being the outgoing one once more, jumped out of his seat to move closer to where everyone else was. Wonwoo took the empty space next to Hansol.

“Why are you here?” Hansol asked playfully. “Shouldn’t you be over there next to Mingyu?”

“Shit. Mingyu. I forgot we’d both be here for the meeting. Inviting you was a bad idea.” Wonwoo dropped his chin into his palm in disappointment.

“Dude, he’s seriously attractive,” Hansol remarked. “I can see why you’re whipped.”

Wonwoo gasped. “I am  _not_ _whipped_ ,” he said in an offended tone.

“Sure,” Hansol scoffed.

“Stay in your lane, boy. Seungkwan wouldn’t be too pleased with you calling Mingyu attractive.”

“I’m not blind, asshat, I’m allowed to call people attractive. And what does Seungkwan have to do with this?”

“Wow, don’t pretend like I didn’t see you gaping at him when I walked in.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Wonwoo!” a voice called from across the room. Hansol recognized the deep and slightly hoarse tone (from his flu, probably) as Mingyu. “Could you come over here a minute?”

“Yeah, sure,” Wonwoo replied, immediately standing up.

“Totally whipped,” Hansol hissed. Wonwoo glared at him quickly before leaving.

Hansol looked over at Seungkwan. He was sitting on a beanbag chair between Jeonghan and Minghao, laughing at a joke one of them made. The sight made Hansol’s heart warm, hearing Seungkwan’s familiar laugh, and somehow also struck an unfamilar note inside him.

“Just friends?” a disembodied voice asked. Hansol turned to see Jihoon leaning over the back of the couch behind him. He was just tall enough to rest his chin on his arms over the edge, which Hansol found amusing.

“Who?” Hansol replied, rather unnecessarily.

“You and him,” Jihoon said, pointing at Seungkwan, who was now leaning dangerously close to Minghao. The sour chord struck again.

“Yeah, just friends.”

“You sure?”

Hansol looked back to give Jihoon a confused look.

“I sense more,” Jihoon said shortly.

“Really? Are you a psychic or something?” Hansol asked.

“Sort of. Not really.” He walked round the side of the couch to sit comfortably near Hansol. “Mingyu’s the one that can actually see the future. I just kind of, sense things.”

“Like hunches?” Hansol asked, half skeptically.

Jihoon scoffed. “It’s clairvoyance. My senses are always right. Right now it’s telling me Jeonghan’s a bit jealous of Jisoo even though Seungcheol hasn’t noticed, Mingyu really needs to sneeze but doesn’t want to because Wonwoo’s right in front of him, and you’ve got a few soft feelings hidden in there somewhere.”

Hansol smiled. “That’s amazing.”

“Only the basics. But in all seriousness, I think it's pretty mutual. He’s just got different ways of showing affection. Don’t take his friendliness towards others as a reason to be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous-”

“Don’t deny it either. It’s pretty much impossible to hide anything from me."

“Oh. Okay.”

“In the least intrusive way, I can tell his feelings towards you are different from his feelings towards them.”

Hansol nodded. "Why are you telling me all of this right now anyway?"

"I told you, I sensed it immediately. Also its a good way to let people know I don't mess around."

Hansol laughed. "Thanks, I guess."

 

“Seriously, Mingyu, you’ve got him under a love potion haven’t you,” Jeonghan was saying. Seungkwan laughed at his forwardness.

Unsurprisingly, Wonwoo was the one to speak up against it first. “He did not! I just-”

“He asked Mingyu!” Minghao said, buried under his own laughter. “Dude, you are so whipped.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Wonwoo grumbled. Mingyu blushed.

As they continued their little roast session on Wonwoo, Seungkwan looked up to find Hansol, a habit he had yet to realize he had been doing.

Hansol was talking to Jihoon, his face full of thought. He saw Jihoon place a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and he felt a pang of emotion inside him. Was that jealousy? It couldn’t be. Jihoon was simply being nice. It had to be something else. What the hell?

“Seungkwan,” his thoughts were interrupted by a poke from Jeonghan. “You okay? You zoned out for a moment there.”

“Hmm,” he turned back to Jeonghan, “yeah.”

Jeonghan smirked. “Alright. Sure. Now help me figure out what’s going on here.” He pointed to Mingyu and Wonwoo. Wonwoo promptly smacked him in the back of the head. Seungkwan burst out in laughter again.

 

 

“I can’t believe Halloween’s like, in two weeks,” Seungkwan said. Just like on their way to the coven, he had been talking about it non-stop on their way back to Hansol’s shop. “We haven’t even got costumes.”

“Oh, right. Costumes. I forgot about that,” Hansol said.

“You forgot?” Seungkwan screamed like a little kid and laughed, grabbing into Hansol’s arm excitedly. “That’s the whole point of Halloween!”

Hansol laughed. “Sorry.”

Seungkwan gasped suddenly. “We should do matching costumes!”

“Matching costumes?” Hansol repeated incredulously. “Like couples’ costumes?”

“Yeah! It doesn’t even have to be scary, and we’re kind of running out of time to get fancy costumes anyway, so why not get a pair of matching outfits we can look cute in together?”

Hansol really couldn’t argue with that.

“So what should we do? A famous duo? A food pairing? Or something pointless like, uh, outfits covered in flowers?”

“Uh,” Hansol began, but Seungkwan was already blabbering.

“Unless you want to be scary. Do you want to be scary? Doesn’t matter. How about-”

“Are you ever going to let me talk?” Hansol laughed and pushed Seungkwan playfully.

“Are you saying I talk too much?” Seungkwan gasped and pushed him back.

“The only time I’ve seen you be quiet is when you’re stuffing your mouth with food,” Hansol joked.

“How dare you!” Seungkwan said, doubled over in laughter. “Fine, we’re going to go find something to eat together. To prove I can talk even when I’m eating.”

“I don’t want to see you talk while you eat!” Hansol protested but Seungkwan was already grabbing his arm and pulling him in a different direction.

“So, what’s your preferred late night snack? Fries? Ice-cream? Street food?”

Hansol sighed and pried Seungkwan’s hand off his arm so he could lace their fingers together.

“Let’s get ice cream.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: hey hey hey the friendship's turning into something sweeter !! also meanie is complicated af i apologize lmao. you ain't getting a verkwan date yet ok be patient. its only chapter nine, so we still got time. 
> 
> IMPORTANT!! i wanted to clear up that this fic isn't really focused on vernon and seungkwan's relationship. by that, i mean you're not going to get angst or a break up or anything like that. my goal for this fic is to portray a healthy relationship while also portraying character growth for all the members based on the situations they are forced into, if that makes any sense. so if you came here for a lot of angst and crying, i'm sorry heh
> 
> next chapter (13-10-17) is a bit spooky (not halloween yet tho, hold ya horses) so you'll get to see a sort of remake of the first chapter?? no spoilers thoughhhhhhhhhh


	10. Frantic Moms in Costume Stores

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning for slightly spooky stuff (not halloween yet!!)
> 
> also sorry in advance

Seungkwan usually liked to spend his Saturdays in Hansol's shop, asking pointless questions and staring at Hansol's beautifully structured face (dear god, that jawline), but that particular Saturday, he felt like doing something on his own.

He hadn't been downtown in a while, so he sent Hansol a text to let him know he wouldn't be visiting today and grabbed a jacket before leaving the house.

He took the bus. Like many others, Seungkwan liked to put on his headphones and lean his head against the window, even despite the overall shakiness of the bus that caused him to lightly hit his head against the glass enough times to maybe have given him a concussion if he was any less lucky than he already was.

Though their town was small, it was colorful. The city center - or downtown, if you weren't feeling pretentious enough to say city center - was exciting all year round. Around New Year's, you wouldn't be able to walk past a single store without being blitzed with lights and lanterns. On Christmas, every building would be covered in twinkling lights and paper snowflakes. They even had their own smaller, less known festivities, unique to their town and its history, and those would be just as wonderful as any other.

A week away from Halloween, you'd start to see mannequins with fanciful costumes behind the shop windows and carved pumpkins on doorsteps and garlands of paper skeletons above entranceways.

Though he knew he couldn't even get through five minutes of a horror movie without wanting to close his eyes, Seungkwan loved Halloween. Costumes and festivities always excited him. It was his chance to dress up as something special and eye-catching, and he loved attention anyway, so it was a sort of bonus, if not an excuse. Now, as a newly discovered witch, the holiday was given a bit more importance than it did a while ago.

He had no goal or plan when he first got the idea to have his little outing, but after seeing a fake skeleton dressed as a pirate (what was the owner thinking?), he figured he might as well grab Halloween necessities while he was here.

His first stop was a Halloween supplies store. He began to regret the decision slightly when he stepped in and immediately bumped into a frantic mom and her five year old kid in a princess costume.

"Watch where you're going!" she screeched into his ear and pulled her child away.

Seungkwan mumbled a quiet apology and moved away from the entrance and further into the shop. There were multiple clones of the woman though, all of them mothers - and the occasional dad - dragging along their kid in a basic costume all around the store. Seungkwan did pass one kid in a Batman costume and gave him a thumbs up when his mom wasn't looking.

"Looking for anything specific?" a voice asked him from nearby.

The voice appeared to have belonged to a sweet looking girl who was leaning over the shop counter, putting on a smile to hide what looked like a semi-distressed expression. The name tag attached to her uniform read 'Eunwoo'.

"Not really," Seungkwan responded.

"Okay, good," she said and let out a breath in relief. "There are already way too many crazy parents in here to deal with. No offense, but if you had said you needed help, I might have actually died. Ma'am, please keep your child away from Mr. Bones ." She gestured to a woman who huffed and made no effort to pull her child's hands off the model skeleton.

"Need any help?" Seungkwan offered. This wasn't the original plan for his downtown trip, but his instincts got the best of him either way.

"Nah, I've already called Rena to join me for this shift. I wasn't expecting the entire mom population to visit me in one afternoon."

Seungkwan let out a small laugh. Eunwoo noticed and relaxed her expression a little too.

" _Actually_ , I wouldn't mind if you carried this box to aisle 3," she admitted. "The Superman costumes are running a little low back there. I normally wouldn't ask you to do this, since you don't even work here, but that kid's getting a bit handsy with Bones and I can't be in two places at once."

"Yeah, that's not an issue," Seungkwan said, picking up the small cardboard box. "Aisle 3, right?"

Eunwoo nodded. "Seriously, thanks a lot."

Seungkwan headed towards aisle 3 as Eunwoo turned to deal with the kid. He found the rack of Superman costumes pretty quickly and deposited the box underneath them.

"Do you work here?"

He looked up to find a dad in a polo shirt holding a little girl's hand.

"No, but I can help if you need anything," Seungkwan said.

"Do you know where I can find a Wonder Woman costume?"

Seungkwan looked down the aisle behind him. "I'm sure they're nearby. These are all superhero costumes."

"Thank you," he said and pulled the girl behind him down the aisle. Seungkwan left from the back, just in case the dad didn't find them and decided to attack him for misdirection.

Eunwoo had apparently settled the problem with the skeleton loving kid and was now behind the counter again.

"Thanks again," she said. "Rena's going to deal with those once she gets here. That's half the work done at least. Did you find anything while you were down there?"

"I wasn't really looking."

"I guessed so. And most of the costumes in here are of the generic type, though I think you could have told that yourself by looking at the dozen tiny girls all dressed in the same princess costume." She rolled her eyes.

"That's alright. There's still time until Halloween anyway."

"Not much, but hey, you know what?" she said suddenly. "You should head over to The Diamond Vault. It's about a minute away from here. It's not exactly good business to send a customer over to another store, but I buy my Halloween costumes there and I really recommend it. They have really rare costumes, retro stuff, and even some dumb ones. Here, I'll write the address down for you."

She went back around the counter and began scribbling on a post it note.

"Excuse me," a random mom called out, popping out of an aisle. "My son needs an vampire costume and the only one you have left is pink."

Eunwoo's head shot up. "I don't see why your son can't be a pink vampire, ma'am. Pink's a cute color and there's no sense in putting useless gender roles in your son's head."

The woman huffed and disappeared back in the aisle.

"That's how you get them to shut up," Eunwoo winked at Seungkwan.

"Pink isn't a very vampy color," Seungkwan laughed.

"Hey, I don't make the costumes," she smiled and handed him the note. "When you get there, tell the girl at the counter I sent you. The free promo better get me a discount."

"No problem," Seungkwan said, giving her a smile as he left and making sure not to bump into any more frantic parents.

The Diamond Vault was a costume store packed in between a funeral home and a pizza joint. Seungkwan had to step over a small pile of fake swords just to properly enter the store. The inside was quite a sight, piles of boxes and racks of costumes all crammed into the small building.

"Sorry about the mess," a girl said, her head popping out from behind a stack of messily folded onesies. "Halloween season is always the worst. I know we  _are_  a Halloween store, but that's not the point.  At least the profit is amazing."

"It's not a problem," Seungkwan reassured, though he wasn't even sure if he could believe himself. And was that a pile of faux fur cloaks or an actual animal in the corner?

The girl brought the onesies over to the front desk and dumped them on the surface. "Need anything?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure," he said, then added as an afterthought, "but Eunwoo sent me, if that means anything."

The girl's eyes widened. "Damn, she's really giving up business for me? I love her so much. Were you just in there? What's it like right now?"

"Pretty crazy," Seungkwan said.

"The moms, right? It's like that every single year. Thank goodness they haven't found out about this treasure yet," she said, gesturing to everything around her. "So, what're you looking for?"

"I'm not really sure," Seungkwan admitted. "Have any couples costumes?"

"Yeah. We got Mario and Princess Peach onesies right here," she said, pointing to the colorful mess in front of her. "That shelf has a boring waffle and syrup combination. And I'm sure we have Shrek and Fiona somewhere upstairs."

She paused to look at Seungkwan's unsure face. "Shrek not really your thing? Understandable. Why don't we take a look together at our options then?"

The next twenty minutes were spent turning the shop into an even larger mess. They went through nearly every box and drawer and shelf, not even sure what they were looking for.

"Harley Quinn and the Joker?" 

"Overrated."

"Two oreos?" 

"Not interesting enough."

"Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson?" 

"Who would be Sandy?" 

"You, duh."

The girl, who had later introduced herself as Xiyeon, was looking through a bag of donated clothing when she gasped and called Seungkwan over.

"You said you were fine with something dumb and totally not scary, right?"

Seungkwan nodded and crouched down next to her in front of the bag.

"Well, I just found a pair of ridiculous floral outfits. They completely match, and you and whoever you're wearing it with are going to look absolutely preposterous. It's the perfect, simple, dumb costume."

She handed over two pairs of rose patterned shirts.

"Want them?" she asked.

Seungkwan stared down at the clothes in his hands. "Sure, why not?"

Seungkwan left the store with a ghost patterned shopping bag and a smile. He had to get back to Hansol's shop to show him the outfits.

3:44, read the time on his watch.

He still had plenty of time to see Hansol, so he figured he may as well visit one more shop.

He walked in the opposite direction of city center, towards the less crowded streets. Here, you could find more obscure shops that sold much more hard to find things. He was hoping maybe he could find a trinket store or some other shop that would have a few spooky looking decorative items.

The first shop that caught his eye wasn't really anything he expecting to find. A small, dim lit store with a few spooky looking items in the window - a skull, a candle, and a couple of crystals - in a tucked away corner of a street. There wasn't even anyone around. If anything, it reminded him of Hansol's own shop, just darker.

He pushed open the door and immediately felt the temperature difference as he stepped in. While the outside was already pretty chilly, the inside was multiple degrees lower. He instinctively pulled on the front of his jacket so it was tighter against him.

There was no one inside at first glance, so he called out a soft "Hello?".

No answer. Perhaps the owner was busy elsewhere.

He looked around him. There were a couple of books displayed on a table, so he moved closer to take a look.

 _The Art of Malediction,_ the first title read.

Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows. What did malediction mean? He was sure he'd heard the word before somewhere.

He lifted the cover, and the smell of sulfur hit him.  _That's an odd smell for a book._

The smell made him queasy, so he quickly put the book back and turned away. A shelf of various objects seemed to attract him, so he headed towards it. On the shelf at eye-view, there were a couple bottles filled with a dark liquid, and next to that, a candle in a holder dripping with wax, and behind both of those was a jar filled with -  _what was that?_

Seungkwan's face grew curious as he pushed the bottles out of the way to get a closer look. To his horror, the jar was filled with a dark orange gel, and frozen in the very middle, was a small scorpion.

"What are you doing in my store?"

He immediately turned around, flinching in surprise at the sudden appearance of the disembodied voice.

A girl with dark hair and equally dark eyes was staring at him uncertainly.

"I said, what are you doing in my store?" she repeated.

"I was just looking-" Seungkwan said, and stopped when she stepped closer without warning. She looked him up and down with sharp eyes.

"You don't seem like the type to be in here," she hissed pointedly.

Seungkwan looked down at his striped lavender sweater, taking full offense to what she just said.

"I swear, I was just looking around," he tried to defend himself again.

She narrowed her eyes. "Sure you were," she said, then paused and her eyes widened. "Did Seungcheol send you?"

"What?" Seungkwan said, taken aback. "No, he didn't. Wait, how do you know Seungch-"

"Get out of my shop!" she began to scream.

Seungkwan's expression turned to one of pure terror. "I didn't mean anything!"

"Get out! Get out now!" she screeched, moving closer with every word. Her eyes grew colder and angrier, and she began to raise her hand to do something Seungkwan didn't want to think about right now.

He backed away, which only resulted in hitting the shelf behind him and knocking over a bottle, which fell to the floor with a sharp noise. A dark fume began rising and filling the room.

He took this as a chance to escape, slipping away from the girl and breaking into a sprint towards the door.

"You think you can escape like that?" she screamed from somewhere behind him. "After coming into my shop and destroying it like this?"

A sudden bang went off and another dark cloud appeared in front of him, blocking his sight of the exit. He swung the shopping bag as a reflex.

"Please don't hurt me!" he sobbed, turning around to defend himself from her. "I didn't mean anything!"

As the cloud began to surround him, all his thoughts went towards what terrible, unexpected fate awaited him. And just as quickly, he wished with all his might that he was home, that he was with Hansol, that he was anywhere besides here.

He squeezed his eyes shut as a painful ringing began to sound in his ears, and slowly the smell of sulfur began to fade.

"Kwannie!"

Seungkwan let out a breath at the familiar voice. His eyes still shut, he felt his body drop to the ground.

"What happened? Are you okay? Oh, Kwannie..."

He felt a soft hand on the small of his back, and then on his cheek.

"Boo, wake up. Please."

He forced an eye open and saw Hansol's silhouette above him. His features were full of worriment and concern.

When he saw Seungkwan's eyes open, he gasped and his eyes grew even wider.

"Boo! What happened? You just teleported into my shop and collapsed. Oh shit, you must have hit your head," he said, moving his hand underneath Seungkwan's head, feeling for any damage.

"I'm fine," Seungkwan sputtered out. "Seriously."

"No you aren't! If you were, you wouldn't be lying on my floor right now. Thank goodness there were no customers around. Can you get up?"

Seungkwan shrugged, so Hansol took his hands and helped him sit up.

"Stay like that," Hansol instructed, and got up and went round behind his counter. He came back shortly with a glass of water. "Drink," he said, handing it to Seungkwan.

Seungkwan solemnly took the glass and slowly sipped. Once the entire glass was empty, then Hansol continued.

"Does your head hurt?"

"Not really."

Hansol tilted his head in sympathy and reached up to run a hand through Seungkwan's hair. "If it hurts, I can get you something to ease the pain."

"It's alright, honestly" Seungkwan said, the feeling of Hansol's soft strokes already soothing him.

"Mind telling me what happened?"

"Well, I was downtown, and I found this shop. I was looking for Halloween stuff. It was a bit creepy. The shop, I mean. Full of terrifying stuff. The owner was pretty creepy too. She got mad at me for being in there and tried to attack me or something."

"She tried to attack you?" Hansol asked, completely shocked. "Did you do anything to anger her?"

Seungkwan paused. "I  _may_  have knocked over some stuff."

Hansol rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. But the shop... something about it sounds off. Can you tell me anything else?"

Seungkwan nodded. "It was a bit like your shop. Those bottles looked kind of like your potion bottles. And there were a couple of books for sale." His eyes widened. "There was also a scorpion! Like, encased in amber or something weird like that."

"A scorpion?" Hansol furrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, one of the books' titles caught my attention. Something about... malevolence. Or maleficent. Wait no, malediction!"

"Malediction!" Hansol cried out. "Seungkwan, I can't believe you walked into a black magic den!"

"A what?"

"You were right about it being like a witch's shop. But the witch who owned it was most likely a left hand path witch. Or just a black magic witch. Either way, you walked straight into a death trap."

"Shit, really?" Seungkwan breathed. "Makes sense now, I guess."

"That's your reaction to escaping near death? How do you get by anything in life?" Hansol laughed.

"I didn't even know I was in a near death situation," Seungkwan shrugged.

"At least you're alright," Hansol said, a bit softer this time. He leaned forward, and for a moment Seungkwan was unsure about what was going to happen, but then Hansol took him into a tight hug. All the tension left Seungkwan's body as he relaxed into the embrace.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," Hansol whispered. Seungkwan responded by burying his face in the crook of Hansol's neck.

They stayed like that for a while, making no sounds or movements, just enjoying the comfort of each other's warmth. Seungkwan was the first to pull away. Hansol looked up at him questioningly.

"I just remembered," Seungkwan explained, reaching behind him and holding up the shopping bag. "I bought costumes."

"I can't believe you broke the moment to tell me you got Halloween costumes."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyyy how are you guys doing? had a mini heart attack? completely expected this? you tell me
> 
> when i grow up came on shuffle as i was editing this chapter and i'm just full of wholesome verkwan ok  
> anyway, im not really amazing at writing intense scenes (well in my opinion im not really amazing at writing in general but thats another thing to discuss another time) so if anyone has any helpful stuff, like, writer to writer, feel free to message me on any of my socials because i love talking with other writers about the struggles™. 
> 
> again, sorry for always putting seungkwan in confusing and terrifying situations. if you haven't already realised, its gonna be a sort of repeating theme.   
> next chapter (21-10-17) is gonna be another heart to heart and all that fluffy/angsty stuff (also a bit of jihancheol for all you ot3 shippers out there woop woop)


	11. Secret-Superpowers-Slash-Secret-Siblings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> small warning for a few sad feelings from seungkwan at the beginning, nothing too bad i think

Seungkwan rolled over in bed and looked over at the unnecessarily bright screen of his phone next to him.

****You have two unread messages from _Hansolie_.** **

He groaned and turned away from it. He had spent the entire morning in bed without doing anything, and now it was almost noon. Back when he was a teenager, he could say it was because he was tired. Now his only excuse for not getting out of bed was that he was trying to avoid something.

He was worried, mostly. He kept thinking back to the coven and the members, and how all of them had a power that they were amazing at and used regularly and it made their lives easier (and ten times cooler).

What did Seungkwan have? Shitty teleportation skills that never worked when he needed it to. Of course, he couldn’t forget that his powers were what brought him and Hansol together, but other than that, he couldn’t remember a single time where he used it for his own personal needs.

Training with Seungcheol had been a bit helpful, thank goodness for that. But every time he tried it himself at home, even just to teleport to the kitchen when he was feeling hungry, he never could. He swore one of these days he was going to end up getting attacked in the alley behind the supermarket and wouldn’t be able to teleport himself out.

Never being good enough was a touchy subject, which unfortunately seemed to pop up repeatedly at multiple stages in his life. He was a dedicated learner, and had a ton of ambition, but for some reason it never helped him when he needed it most.

Teachers loved him for his energy and excitement, but would frown at his assignments. His parents encouraged him to do what he loved, but when he’d return not having accomplished anything, they would share a look which he would come to realize meant something along the lines of ‘we expected this, what could we do?’.

These self-deprecating thoughts hurt Seungkwan. They made him feel like shit. They made him not want to get out of bed in the mornings. But he had spent years fighting those feelings, and today wasn’t going to get the better of him (even though he did already spend most of his morning under his comforter avoiding the outside world).

_Ding._

****You have three unread messages from _Hansolie_.** **

Seungkwan huffed and threw his arm over his comforter in an effort to reach his phone and only ended up smacking it off the bed and onto the floor.

He leaned over the edge of the bed and picked it up to unlock it.

 ** **Hansolie**** (10:26): morning boo <3

 ** **Hansolie**** (10:26):you coming over?

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:42): text me when you can :)

Seungkwan smiled. How could Hansol wait over an hour for a reply and still add a smiley face at the end of his text?

 ** **Boo**** (11:44): Sorry about not replying!

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:45): ah don’t worry about it

 ** **Boo****  (11:45): I’ll be over soon.

 ** **Hansolie****  (11:45) ** **:**** oki

 ** **Hansolie****  (11:45): see you, boo

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Hansol glanced over his shoulder at Seungkwan. He had arrived at the shop about twenty minutes ago and hadn’t said anything more than simple one syllable words. The usual Seungkwan would have started talking the moment he stepped into the shop. Something was off.

He finished marking off details into his journal and turned to face Seungkwan, who was on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through one of his spellbooks.

“Want tea?” Hansol called over.

Seungkwan hummed a short yes in response.

Hansol brewed a quick pot of green tea and brought it over in the pink mug for Seungkwan.

“Thanks,” he said with a small smile, accepting the tea. Hansol sat down next to him.

“What’re you reading?” Hansol asked, trying to ease into a conversation.

Seungkwan shrugged and lifted the book so Hansol could see the cover.

“ _Advanced Candle Magic_ ,” Hansol read out loud. “Were you planning on changing your special power or something?”

Seungkwan winced, and Hansol knew he had hit a sour note.

“Kwannie,” he said softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

Seungkwan shrugged again, and took a sip of his tea.

Hansol smiled sympathetically. “You know you can always tell me if something is bothering you.” He paused. “Unless you don’t want to, of course. I’m not trying to pressure you or anyth-“

“No, no!” Seungkwan interjected. “This is my fault. Don’t blame yourself. I’m the one acting weird.”

“Seriously, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

“That’s not it, I’m sorry.” He sighed deeply. “It’s just – I’ve just been thinking about my powers. I feel like they aren’t good enough.”

Hansol tilted his head. “Your powers are fine, honestly. Plus, you’re just a beginner.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But I feel like they’ll never get better.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’ve had  _enough_  experience to know it’s a strong possibility.”

Hansol put down the mug to wrap his arm around Seungkwan’s shoulders. “You’re being too hard on yourself. It takes time and practice, that’s it.”

“Everyone else just seems so talented and perfect,” Seungkwan whined. “Jeonghan can make things fly. Mingyu can see the future. Jun can freaking project his mind into another dimension. You’re an expert at tarot cards. I can’t even control my  _own_  powers.”

Hansol bit his lip, hesitating on what he was going to say next.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Seungkwan looked up at him questioningly. He reminded Hansol of a sad puppy.

“I’ve never told anyone this before,” Hansol said, leaning in to Seungkwan.

“You can tell me,” Seungkwan reassured. “Unless you don’t want to. Just like what you said.”

Hansol wavered for a moment.

“I don’t actually have a special power.”

Seungkwan pulled away. “What?”

“I don’t have a special power,” Hansol repeated.

“But… your tarot cards?”

Hansol gave the other a small smile. “Tarot cards aren’t a power. Anyone can learn to read tarot cards. I just say it’s my power so other witches don’t think it’s strange that I don’t have one.”

Seungkwan’s expression grew concerned. “You told me every witch has a special power.”

“Not me,” Hansol shrugged. “I never found mine. I tried and tried, but nothing I did felt right.”

“Why haven’t you ever told me?”

“I’m just used to keeping it a secret. It’s rare to find a witch without a special power.”

“But… don’t tarot cards feel special now that you call it your special power?”

Hansol shook his head. “That’s not really how it works. Besides, like I said, anyone can learn to read tarot cards.”

Seungkwan nodded thoughtfully. He leaned back into Hansol and rested his head on his shoulder. “That must suck.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Still, it must suck.”

“Not as much as it used to.”

“That’s good. But I feel pretty bad now. I’m the older one, I’m supposed to be taking care of you, and instead I’m whining about my powers when you don’t even have one.”

“You’re only a month older than me, you know,” Hansol laughed.

“But I’m still older, so I’m going to be a good older brother. Here, put your head on my shoulder instead.”

“You’re being serious?”

“Yeah. Now put your head on my shoulder before I make you do it myself!”

Hansol laughed and did as he was told.

 

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

 

Seungcheol looked up as Seungkwan entered the den, followed by Hansol.

“I wasn’t expecting you here today,” he said.

“But I did you. Did you get it?” Hansol asked.

Seungcheol nodded and gestured for them to sit down. Seungkwan waved at Jeonghan and Joshua, who were seated on a couch opposite them. There were no other coven members present, since they weren’t going to have a meeting until next week.

“Why did you need to see me?” Seungcheol questioned.

“Seungkwan had something he needed to ask,” Hansol said, directing Seungcheol’s attention to the boy next to him.

“Ah, yeah,” Seungkwan said, as if suddenly remembering the exact reason they were here. “I stumbled into a black magic den a couple days ago, because I was looking for Halloween supplies and I thought it might have been a supply store. Turns out I was wrong about that.”

He paused, and Seungcheol gestured for him to continue.

“Well, while I was in there, the witch who owned the place. She got mad at me for being in there. I guess I didn’t look like a black magic witch. And she… she asked me if you had sent me.”

Seungcheol’s face grew dark. “She asked if I had sent you?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“What did you say?”

“She never gave me a chance to respond.”

Seungcheol took in a deep breath. “I was afraid this was going to happen someday.”

At this point, even Jeonghan and Joshua were dead quiet, listening intently to figure out what was happening.

Seungcheol leaned back into his armchair, his fingers against the side of his forehead in frustration. “That was my sister.”

There was a long and convoluted silence.

“Your  _what_?” Jeonghan was the first to ask.

“My sister,” Seungcheol sighed.

“You never told us you had a sister,” Joshua said quietly.

“She’s my half-sister. From my father’s side of the family.”

“And?” Jeonghan pestered him to continue.

“And I don’t keep in contact with her, so I never felt the need to mention her,” he replied in a matter-of-fact way. “It’s because she’s a left-hand path witch.”

Seungkwan gasped.

“Surprising, right?” Seungcheol shook his head. “After she turned to black magic, I broke all contact with her. She’s not my sister anymore. I refuse to be related to a blood traitor like her.”

“I was about to be killed by your  _sister_?” Seungkwan asked, still half shook by the revelation.

“Did she really seem like she was about to kill you?” Seungcheol enquired.

Seungkwan nodded feverishly.

“I’m so terribly sorry for that,” Seungcheol said. “But I know she’s afraid of me too. I’ve always been the more powerful one. As long as she knows you’re a part of our coven, she won’t harm you. Just don’t go anywhere near her shop again.”

“I don’t even want to," Seungkwan huffed.

Seungcheol looked over at Hansol. “You’ve been quiet the whole time you’ve been here. Anything bothering you?”

Hansol shook his head. “I was just a bit… surprised at what you told us.”

“As expected. Again, Seungkwan, I’m sorry for her disgraceful behavior. But I promise you’re safe within the coven.”

“That’s reassuring, I guess,” Seungkwan said.

“Anything more? Perhaps any other concerns or things you noticed?”

Seungkwan thought for a moment. “Yeah, how do you create a magical colored cloud of smoke? Because she did that and I thought it was really fuckin cool.”

 

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

 

Seungcheol glanced over at Jeonghan from his desk nervously. The long-haired witch had been pacing up and down his study for the last five minutes non-stop. Joshua had been sitting quietly on the edge of Seungcheol’s desk, also watching Jeonghan and waiting for him to say something.

“So,” Jeonghan said finally, “you’re telling us now, that all this time, you’ve had a sister?”

Seungcheol nodded slowly.

“And she’s a left-hand path witch?”

He nodded again.

“And you never thought of telling us before?”

Seungcheol did nothing.

“I can’t believe this,” Jeonghan said, looking up to the ceiling in desperation. “I thought we had agreed to tell each other important things.”

“I’m sorry, an-”

“Don’t call me angel right now,” Jeonghan hissed. “Not when I’m mad. You know that.”

“Sorry.”

Jeonghan huffed and began pacing the room again.

Joshua looked over at Seungcheol, who shrugged. He turned to Jeonghan. “You’re being a little harsh on him, you know?”

Jeonghan turned to look at him incredulously. “You’re taking his side?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side,” Joshua defended himself. “I agree it would be have been a bit more respectful to both of us if he had told us about his sister, but you can’t blame him for not telling either. She’s a black magic witch, for Merlin’s sake! If your sister was a black magic witch, I’m sure you’d be ashamed of her too.”

Jeonghan stared at him, defeated.

“I’m sorry,” Seungcheol said in a soft voice. “I really am.”

Jeonghan paced over to the desk and sat on the side across from Joshua.

“You know this relationship we have can be complicated. But we’ve got to have communication. Not telling us about her put Seungkwan in a dangerous situation. You have to promise you won’t do this again.”

“I promise.”

“Witch's promise?”

Seungcheol held out his pinky, to which Jeonghan and Joshua connected theirs in a three-way tie.

"Witch's promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the record, i don’t even know if seungcheol has a sister, but for the sake of keeping it interesting, let’s pretend he does and she’s a black magic witch. also, the only reason i’m including jihancheol in the fic is because i ship jihan AND jeongcheol and couldn’t for the life of me pick which one i wanted to include in here, and i know some of you ship the three of them too so eyyyyy here’s an ot3 for you guys i love poly relationships woop woop
> 
> i also wanted to just let you ao3 peeps know that all my chapters on wattpad have related pictures of the members featured in that chapter that i handpick myself so if you want that feel free to drop by over there (@cherrycarateu)
> 
> are you all excited for halloween?????? im so pumped honestly im gonna carve a pumpkin tomorrow. if you guys are dressing up, tell me what your costumes are, i really wanna know !!
> 
> love you all !!


	12. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not so spooky stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its halloween finally! sorry i couldn’t time this better so i could upload this on the 31st but blame the calendar not me ok
> 
> not a smut warning but there’s a bit with a game of truth or dare and it gets pretty sexy (so this chapter isn’t very sfw, just saying) and so if you’re uncomfortable with that kind of stuff you can skip over it and won’t really miss anything except a lot of nonsense

“Come on, Hansol! We’ll be late if you don’t hurry up!”

Hansol grabbed his coat off the rack and sprinted down the stairs.

“We don’t have to be at the covenstead until seven, you know,” Hansol said, running a hand through his hair.

Seungkwan was beaming at him from the door. Both were dressed in floral patterned shirts and shorts. The older had even tied a small bandana into a ribbon under his hair.

“It’s already dark! And I still don’t want to be late,” Seungkwan whined.

“We won’t be,” Hansol reassured. “Do you want to teleport there or something?”

“I don’t trust myself enough,” Seungkwan laughed. “Now let’s go!”

The entrance to the covenstead was decorated with a garland of paper bats, and two glowing pumpkins with spooky faces smiled their sharp teeth at the two of them as they entered.

“Hansol! Seungkwan! Nice timing!” Hoshi greeted them as they stepped in. He was in a blue striped shirt and his hair was pink.

“What are you dressed as?” Seungkwan asked.

“Jihoon,” Hoshi said and laughed.

“And what’s Jihoon dressed as?”

“Me!”

“Nice hair,” Hansol commented as they walked down the corridor to the den.

“Temporary color changing charm,” he explained. “Jihoon’s hair is blond too. I offered to use it on Seokmin but he said Harry Potter can’t have blue hair. I think that’s a ridiculous excuse, but I hate to disagree with Seokmin.”

As they reached the door to the den, the melody of a Wonder Girls song grew louder, and when they opened the door they realized how loud it actually was. A massive speaker was now present on top of the center table blasting ‘Tell Me’.

The entire atmosphere of the party amazed Seungkwan. It was exactly how he imagined parties like the ones in all the classic American teen movies. Loud music, red solo cups, everyone in costumes laughing and dancing. Just slightly less sexy grinding.

“Heyyyyyyy,” Jun said, dragging out his greeting. “Party’s just getting started. Go grab an elixir from Minghao if you want.” He lifted up his cup.

Minghao was behind a makeshift bar, bottles of assorted colors and sizes scattered across it.

“Want anything?” he said, raising his voice enough to be heard over the music and pouring a bright blue liquid into a solo cup.

“I don’t drink,” Seungkwan said, examining the bottles.

“Well, today is your lucky day!” Minghao winked. “These are specially made elixirs. They get you drunk without actually being, you know, alcohol. It’s mostly for Chan’s benefit since he’s still a baby.”

“Can you not call me a baby?” Chan said, while simultaneously being in a costume looking like it was meant for a baby.

“You may not be  _my_  baby but you know Jeonghan would be upset if he heard you say that,” Minghao said.

“I’m not playing his games anymore! Also I’m not a baby, I’ll be turning 19 in February.”

“You’re still a baby.”

Chan huffed and grabbed a cup before leaving.

“So like I said,” Minghao said to Seungkwan again, “no alcohol.”

“Shit, okay,” Seungkwan said.

“Here’s a rose quartz elixir,” Minghao said, handing him a cup with a shimmery pink liquid. “To match your costume.”

“Seungkwan!” Jeonghan said, drifting over to them. He was in a black blazer and his long hair was dip-dyed green and red on each side. Harley Quinn, Hansol supposed. “Come dance with me, darling,” he said in a posh voice.

“Of course,” Seungkwan said, letting Jeonghan pull him towards the center of the room where everyone was enjoying themselves.

“You can stay here if you want,” Minghao said. Hansol turned back to him to give him a questioning look.

“What I mean is if you aren’t comfortable enough to dance to 2NE1 yet, you can hang around here and get drunk first.”

Hansol raised an eyebrow.

“You gotta trust my elixirs, dude,” Minghao said, expertly mixing up more drinks. “Wanna know my secret sequence I created?”

“Sequence?”

“Okay so,” Minghao began proudly, “first drink gets you buzzed. Nothing crazy, just as much one can of beer would do. Second drink gives you the confidence to dance like Hoshi normally does even when he’s not drunk. Third drink makes you spacey. Or extremely loud. Depends on the person. Five drinks is insane party mode. That’s where most of us get by the end of the night. Six is when the sexy stuff happens. If you hear moans from the upstairs bathroom anytime, you know what’s happening. After six, you’re pretty much drunk as fuck. Maybe time to go home at that point.”

“That’s fucking insane,” Hansol said in awe. “You seriously created that?”

“I design the elixirs to work like that,” Minghao shrugged, though you could tell he was secretly super proud. “First drink?”

“Sure, why not,” Hansol said, accepting a cup and sipping slowly.

From his position in the room, he could see pretty much all the insanity that had already begun and was happening. He had never thought thirteen people was much until all of them were drunk and put in the same room together.

Mingyu stumbled over to the bar in an effort to grab a cup but ended up knocking half the bottles off the table. Minghao groaned and shoved a cup at him to get him to leave.

“I love Mingyu to death but he’s mostly a giant clumsy baby,” he said, cleaning the mess off the floor. Hansol laughed.

By the first hour, most of them were at what Minghao described as ‘second drink stage’. Wonwoo was already slurring dumb pick-up lines at Mingyu, so he might have even bit at ‘third drink stage’.

At one point, Jun hollered “TRUTH OR DARE TIME, BITCHES” and everyone hooted loudly in response.

“Okay, no taking back dares,” Seungcheol grinned at everyone as they gathered around in the den.

“Says the guy who refused to do a strip tease at last year’s party,” Joshua said quietly with a smirk.

Minghao brought over an empty bottle and placed it in the middle of the circle. “Ready?”

With a quick spin, the bottle turned its way towards Mingyu. His fake vampire teeth (or were those just his real pointy teeth?) made an appearance with his sneaky smile.

“Mingyu!” Jun yelled. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare!” he yelled back.

“How about we start simple?” Joshua asked, the voice of reason. “Text a random person in your contacts blindfolded.”

“That’s it?” Mingyu laughed, already pulling out his phone. Seokmin wrapped his Gryffindor scarf around Mingyu’s eyes as he scrolled through his contacts.

“Autocorrect’s a real bitch sometimes,” Jeonghan said with an evil grin.

“Hand it over, we need proof,” Jihoon said as Mingyu hit send, then burst into laughter when he saw it.

Joshua leaned over his shoulder to read it out. “My pancake needs the salt that you have with your bear?”

“What the fuck? Also who did he send it to?”

“The ID says Kyulkyung?” Joshua said.

Mingyu ripped off the scarf from over his eyes. “Kyulkyung?! We take the same sociology course! She’s going to be so confused.”

“No explaining it! You can tell her when you meet her in person,” Hoshi said, laughing so hard that he was clutching onto Seokmin for assistance.

“Fine,” he said, pocketing the phone. “My turn to spin.”

The bottle pointed to Joshua, and everyone immediately began to brainstorm questions that would make him uncomfortable, since that was apparently the hardest thing ever to do. Hansol had learned that at the previous year’s party, Joshua had managed to get through the most embarrassing dares with a straight face, so it was sort of an inside joke that he was unbreakable.

“Have any strange kinks?” someone asked after a while of somber thinking.

Joshua nodded with a straight face, and the room burst in gasps and various surprised noises.

“Which ones?” Wonwoo inquired.

“I’m only supposed to answer one question,” Joshua said flatly, which resulted in a lot of disappointed groans.

Jeonghan, eager to prove his title as the king of dares, said he’d accept anything thrown at him when it was his turn.

“Even streaking down the street?” Jun raised an eyebrow.

“Only if someone covers Chan’s eyes,” Jeonghan said, standing up.

To everyone’s horror (with the most exaggerated reaction coming from Seungkwan, of course), Jeonghan fully accepted the dare and managed to run down the street and back without anyone calling the police on him.

“I can’t believe he actually did that,” Seokmin said to Hansol as the long-haired witch came back inside the room fully dressed. “Last year he made out with Seungcheol for a minute in front of everyone. But I’m pretty sure we stopped him before it got to a full minute.”

The bottle spun towards Wonwoo, and all eyes immediately turned to Mingyu.

To everyone’s surprise, Chan was the first to suggest something. “Pocky challenge?”

“Dino!” Jeonghan hollered. “You’re too young to be suggesting that!”

“I just watched you run down the street without any clothes!”

“Okay, who didn’t cover his eyes like I asked?”

“For real though,” Seungkwan said. Hansol perked up. “Pocky challenge.”

There was a random loud hoot, and Minghao ran into the kitchen to grab a box.

Wonwoo was blushing furiously as he was handed a chocolate covered stick.

“Less than one centimeter,” Hoshi dared. Wonwoo shot him a deathly glare.

He held up the Pocky stick in between him and Mingyu, who seemed to show no sign of distress compared to overly nervous Wonwoo.

Everyone edged closer to watch as they took each end of the stick and leaned forward.

As they got closer to a centimeter, the tension in the room was unbearable.

Then finally, Mingyu took the last bite.

And quickly pressed a kiss against Wonwoo’s lips.

Everyone began to simultaneously scream. 

Mingyu held up the miniscule end of the Pocky stick in triumph as Wonwoo retracted back in embarrassment.

“Well, that’s it,” Seungcheol called out, “everyone’s getting drunk and we’re playing 7 Minutes in Heaven. Wonwoo and Mingyu are first.”

Wonwoo opened his mouth to protest but they were already being dragged towards the other end of the room.

“I promise we won’t be listening,” Jeonghan smirked and turned up the volume of the music as Mingyu and Wonwoo were shoved into the closet.

Minghao passed around more cups of colorful drinks.

“I can’t believe I’m not being allowed another elixir,” Chan grumbled to Hansol as he made his way to the couch where he was.

“I guess you’re still the baby of the group,” Hansol laughed and shrugged.

“I’m only a year younger than you!” he argued, sipping the Capri Sun he had been handed instead. “Plus there’s no actual alcohol in that.”

“I know,” Hansol said, taking a sip of his own drink.

As the second SHINee song came to an end, Joshua knocked on the closet door.

“You two ready to come out yet?” he called to Mingyu and Wonwoo.

There was a short muffled answer and the two of them exited a moment after, looking equally flustered.

Hansol caught Wonwoo’s eye as he passed him, and took the opportunity to smirk at him. Wonwoo stuck out his tongue.

“Okay, who’s next?” Joshua said, turning around to look at the crowded room.

“We could throw Jihoon in there to make him uncomfortable,” Jun hollered.

“We would need someone to throw inside with him,” Seungcheol shook his head, then continued to scan the room like Joshua.

To Hansol’s horror, the leader’s glance stopped directly on him.

“New members aren’t excused,” the leader smirked, tugging on Hansol’s arm for him to stand up.

“Wait, I-” Hansol blurted out, his face turning a shade of red not unlike the color of the roses on his shirt. Someone hooted from behind him.

“No excuses!” Seungcheol said again and pushed him into the closet.

“But I just-” he tried to continue, getting cut off as someone was pushed into the closet with him and the door was shut behind him.

There was a sound of something clattering, followed by a soft “ouch”.

“Did I bump into you?” Seungkwan’s unmistakable voice called out from somewhere in the darkness of the large closet. “Sorry about that.”

“I- uh… no, you didn’t bump into me.”

“Ah, okay. That might have been something else in here.”

There was a brief silence.

“Do you think they can actually hear us from outside or what?” Seungkwan asked to ease the tension.

Hansol shrugged, forgetting the other wouldn’t be able to see him. He was more focused on the fact that it was extremely dark in here.

“Hansol?” Seungkwan said quietly after Hansol hadn’t said anything. “You okay?”

“Hmm,” Hansol responded shortly.

“Are you even listening to me clearly?”

Hansol didn’t respond.

“Where are you? I’m going to reach out to find you right now.”

A soft hand touched Hansol’s chest.

“Is that you?” Seungkwan asked, pressing his palm a bit more firmly. He gasped suddenly. “Why is your heart beating so quickly?”

Hansol couldn’t reply, mostly because he couldn’t tell if it was due to the dark or to Seungkwan’s hand resting on his chest.

“Oh no,” Seungkwan said even more quietly, the sudden realization coming to him. “Hansolie…”

“It’s okay, really,” Hansol whispered in a totally unconfident tone.

“No, no, no, Hansol.”

Being careful not to cause an accident, Seungkwan reached out in the dark to wrap his arms around Hansol in a hug.

“I didn’t know,” Seungkwan said. “If they knew, they wouldn’t have forced you in here.”

Hansol let himself melt into the hug, not wanting to answer him right now.

“Should I ask them to let us out?”

Hansol shook his head softly. He felt as if every movement he made had to be careful and quiet, like a single harsh reflex would ruin this. This was a new feeling, since he had been used to hugging Seungkwan before, but this was the first time something felt fragile.

What felt like moments later but had to be much longer after, there was a knock on the closet door.

“Your seven minutes are over,” Joshua chirped from the other side of the wooden frame.

The spangled lights of the den temporarily blinded Seungkwan as he and Hansol exited the closet.

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, but Seungkwan didn’t respond in any way as to give any hints.

“Jun, don’t even try to escape,” Jeonghan yelled. “You know you’re next!”

☆

Hansol closed his eyes and let the cool late-night air breeze over his features. The upstairs balcony overlooked the now quiet street, and he found comfort in the peaceful atmosphere.

The sound of the glass sliding door being open sounded from behind him, so he turned around to glance at who it was.

A tuft of brown hair indicating Joshua was peeking out of the entrance.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked with a small smile.

Hansol gestured for him to step outside. Joshua leaned onto the painted railing next to him.

“Needed a quiet moment?” Hansol inquired.

“I’m not needed for 7 Minutes in Heaven,” he explained. “Jeonghan’s having enough fun in there already without me.”

Hansol chuckled.

“So why  _are_  you out here?” Joshua asked.

“Don’t you already know?”

“Did you guess I was a psychic or something?”

“I thought Mingyu was the psychic.”

“He can divine the future. I’m more of the mind reading type.”

“Ah. Got it.”

Joshua smiled softly again.

The two of them continued to look over the peaceful scene below them, a complete contrast to the colorful chaos that was happening just inside the house.

After a few moments, Joshua spoke again. “I do know why you’re out here.”

Hansol furrowed his eyebrows. “Did you just read my mind? Because that’s lowkey creepy, just saying.”

Joshua laughed. “No, I didn’t read your mind.”

“You didn’t?”

“I didn’t need to.”

Hansol gulped.

“You want to talk about it? About him?”

He could feel the tips of his ears burning. “Him?” he asked, completely obvious though he tried to sound oblivious.

“Yeah. I’m sure we’re both thinking of the same person here.”

Hansol turned away, feeling extremely self-conscious.

“Ah, young love,” Joshua hummed. “So naïve, yet so beautiful.”

“You’re not that old,” Hansol retorted.

“But I’m older than you. And if you haven’t noticed, I happen to be in a relationship. With  _two_  guys. I’m assuming these feelings for Seungkwan are new?”

Hansol shrugged. He figured that if Joshua was going to keep bothering him about it, he might as well entertain him.

“I see the way you look at him, you know.”

He spun around to look at Joshua questioningly. The older laughed.

“Don’t think we all haven’t noticed. But we’ve had this happen in the coven before, so rest assured, your secret is safe with us.”

The burning embarrassment had spread from his ears to the rest of his face now.

“Just… don’t read my mind again,” he said quietly.

“I said I didn’t! Aw, did I tease you too much?” he said, noticing the redness covering his cheeks. “I’m sorry. How about we go back inside? I think I hear BIGBANG playing and you don’t want to miss the chorus, because  _everyone_  has to dance.”

☆

Seungkwan had no idea what time it was. He didn’t know how many drinks he had had. He didn’t even know what song was playing. All he knew was that he was having the time of his life on top of the table surrounded by eight other guys all dancing the exact same thing as him.

It was fair to mention he also didn’t know what Hansol was thinking as he watched him dance from the other end of the room.

“Okay, Seungkwan is drunk as fuck.”

Hansol raised an eyebrow at Chan, who was next to him, sipping his sixth Capri Sun of the night.

“Are you going to scold me for swearing like Jeonghan does?”

“No, I was just surprised at what you said.”

“I said Seungkwan is drunk as fuck, and I don’t see why you’re surprised,” he said, pointing to the overly excited and loud boy across the room.

“Okay, yeah. He is.”

“I think Hoshi’s as drunk as he is too. And Jun. And maybe Seungcheol too.”

“They’re going to perform the midnight ritual completely drunk?”

“That’s the best way to do it.”

“Right. Of course.”

“Are you staying for the ritual? It’s almost midnight and if you're staying, you've got to be drunk too.”

Hansol looked at the clock on the wall. The hands were indeed pointing extremely close to midnight.

“I was going to join, but I don’t think Seungkwan’s in the right state to join me. Plus I've only had a drink and a half, and its wearing off now anyway.”

“It’s more fun when you’re drunk, just saying.”

There was a small crashing sound, and Seungkwan was sprawled across the floor, giggling wildly.

“But I guess falling off the table and laughing is the point you’ve got to go home,” Dino sighed. “Are you going to go collect your man or what?”

Seungcheol was already helping Seungkwan up by the time he got there.

“Want to help him get home or do you want to wait so we can perform the ritual first?” the leader asked.

Hansol looked down at Seungkwan, who was only half giggling now, probably exhausted from all of it.

“I think I’ll take him home,” he said. “We can join the next ritual.”

“Winter Solstice ritual,” Seungcheol reminded. “Now make sure he gets home safe.”

Hansol nodded and helped Seungkwan up so he could lean on him.

Seungcheol looked at the two of them for a second and then added, “I’ll call an Uber.”

The ride home was a lot of nonsensical blabbering and giggling from Seungkwan and Hansol trying his hardest to control him so they didn’t annoy the driver.

They stopped at the shop, since Hansol had also tried to ask Seungkwan where he lived and where he kept his keys and hadn’t gotten a comprehensible answer.

“I wish you’re were sober enough to teleport the two of us upstairs,” Hansol grunted, dragging Seungkwan up the spiral staircase. Seungkwan giggled and let Hansol pull him up.

They entered the flat and headed to Hansol’s bedroom.

“Sleepy time?” Seungkwan asked, then yawned after.

“Yeah,” Hansol said, “sleepy time.”

“Mm-kay,” Seungkwan blabbered.

Hansol sighed and helped tuck him into the sheets.

“Is this okay?” he asked. Seungkwan nodded, his eyes already closing.

Hansol watched as he began to take longer breaths, and only once he was content that Seungkwan was sleeping well did he grab a different blanket and make space on the futon outside for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the 7 seconds in heaven scene came to life after i saw a tumblr post where someone said Hansol was apparently scared of the dark you're welcome
> 
> also what are your halloween costumes?? i live in denmark and halloween isn't very big here but if i were going to wear a costume this year i might have been a low budget eleven from stranger things (season two is killing me, hmu if you wanna scream and cry along with me)
> 
> i'm just letting you know my bio has a quick list of some ideas and half completed projects that i might work on once i've finished prewriting this, so if you're looking for future projects, there ya go
> 
> next chapter (11-11-17) is a short fluffy one with some verkwan and jihancheol, see ya then
> 
> leave some sweet comments maybe ?? i love reading and replying to them because i love and appreciate all of you !!


	13. Domesticity and Pancakes and Real Witch Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the length of the chapter aaaaaa  
> it's literally all fluff and has no direct relation to the main plotline im sORRY
> 
> but if you'd like to help me solve this situation please answer the poll at the end of the chapter!!!!!

Seungkwan’s eyelids felt heavier than usual.

His pillow felt different.

Why was the sunlight coming in from the right instead of left like it normally did?

He stretched himself out under the warm blankets and rubbed at his eyes until they opened. Only then did he realize he wasn’t in his own room.  _What the hell._

He scrambled to sit up and get a better look at the room. It was small, well lit, and smelled like fresh laundry. Definitely not his room.

Immediately his mind went in twenty different directions. Was he kidnapped? No, the room was too nice to be an evil person’s lair. Did he enter the wrong apartment last night? That’s definitely not possible, because no one would leave their door open for drunk strangers in the middle of the night. Or worst case scenario: did he have a half-conscious one night stand with someone who he can’t remember and end up sleeping at their place. That one had a ‘NO’ with capital letters and a big red cross over it.

Ignoring his peculiar thoughts, he leaned over the bed to pull shut a window pane that had been left slightly ajar to let a chilly breeze in. It creaked as he pulled on it.

“You’re awake.”

Startled, Seungkwan let go of the window and turned around. Hansol was in the doorway, wearing only a pair of sweatpants. A towel was thrown over his bare shoulders, water dripping off his damp hair. Seungkwan gulped.

“I – uh, yeah,” he said quietly. “Is this your bedroom?”

Hansol nodded. “I guess you’ve never been upstairs to my flat. This is it. Part of it, at least.”

“It’s nice,” Seungkwan said shortly, still distracted by the fact that Hansol was not wearing a shirt.

“Thanks,” Hansol smiled. “Also, I just got out of the shower, so if you’re not feeling like shit, then feel free to use it.”

“Oh. Okay.”  _He was shirtless._

“I’ll be in the kitchen, so just come in whenever you’re hungry.”

Seungkwan couldn’t even form the words ‘thank you’. He was too busy admiring the way Hansol’s waist dipped down and –

“Kwannie.”

Seungkwan blinked and directed his eyes back at Hansol’s face. “Yeah?”

“I said I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Right. Thanks.”

He got a glimpse of Hansol’s back as he left the room.

He needed that shower, and it had to be  _cold_.

 

The smell of pancakes was the first thing that smacked Seungkwan in the face as he entered the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Hansol greeted. He was standing over the stove – wearing a tank top now, thank goodness – and sprinkling chocolate chips into a creamy batter. “Feeling alright?”

Seungkwan nodded. “My head only hurts a little. Shouldn’t hangovers feel worse?”

“You didn’t actually have any alcohol last night,” Hansol reminded. His arm flexed as he flipped the pancake. “Your head probably just hurts from falling off Seungcheol’s table.”

“I did  _what_? _”_

Hansol laughed. “You couldn’t stop laughing, so that’s when I decided it was time to leave.”

“Why don’t I remember this? What the hell?” Seungkwan sighed and seated himself at the table. Hansol soon brought over a pile of warm pancakes along with a couple of syrup bottles.

“I can’t wait to see what you’re like when you’re actually drunk,” Hansol said, passing a knife and fork to the other.

“Life of the party probably,” Seungkwan laughed. “But I think it’ll be more fun seeing what I’m like the morning after, because I have a feeling this headache is nothing compared to that.”

“You’re completely right about that,” Hansol smirked. “But have you not gotten that drunk before?”

Seungkwan shook his head. “I have a glass of wine every now and then but I’ve never been frat-boy level drunk. Why are you asking? Have you been?”

“I don’t know if it’s surprising, but I’m not exactly extroverted frat boy material either,” Hansol joked. “But I have experienced a hangover, and that’s partly why I decided not to get drunk last night. Also Mingyu might have accidentally drunkenly predicted that you’ll need me in the morning so I should avoid getting shitfaced.”

“He said that?” Seungkwan asked incredulously, his cheeks burning. “Well, I’m glad he did anyway because now I have these awesome-ass pancakes.”

“You’re welcome,” Hansol smiled, then added, “By the way, you look good in that sweater,” Hansol said, desperate for a subject change.

Seungkwan looked down at the navy sweatshirt he was wearing. Hansol’s navy sweatshirt, to be exact.

“I hope you don’t mind that I’m borrowing this,” Seungkwan said. “After showering, I couldn’t be bothered to put on the clothes from last night. They smell like strawberries. But old strawberries.” He stabbed the pancake with his knife. “Old, moldy, gross strawberries.”

“That’s oddly specific,” Hansol said.

“I know, and I don’t even know how I know that.”

“Maybe because you always smell like strawberries.”

Seungkwan looked up at the other witch. “I do?”

Hansol paused. “Yeah, but I mean that in the least creepy way possible, I promise.”

“No, no, I’m just surprised anyone noticed. I bought strawberry scented creams recently, but I didn’t know they were noticeable.”

“Ah, okay,” Hansol said, flustered.

Seungkwan, though he wouldn’t have admitted it, was equally as flustered to think that Hansol cared enough to notice those trivial details.

But it wasn’t like he could say much for himself either. He was always noticing the little details about Hansol too, and it didn’t matter whether the moment was accidental or not. He noticed the way the right side of Hansol’s mouth tipped upwards when he found something amusing but didn’t want anyone else to see his reaction. He noticed the one strand of hair that always fell into his face no matter how many times he tried to push it back with the rest. He noticed the way Hansol shivered every time someone accidentally brushed a hand against him because of how ticklish he was. He noticed how Hansol liked to murmur sweet things to Kiki when he thought Seungkwan wasn’t listening. He noticed the way Hansol poked at his pointer finger with his thumb when he got nervous.

Were all of these details creepy to be noticed? Possibly, but Seungkwan had gotten so obsessed with the entirety of Hansol that all these quirks and specifics had become so obvious to him.

A small meow sounded from underneath the table, and Seungkwan took a moment to stop daydreaming and check the source of the adorable sound. Kiki had wound her way between the two witches feet and was looking up at them expectantly.

“I think we’ll be getting customers soon,” Hansol said, gesturing at the cat softly. “She knows when customers are coming. Would you like to join me in tending to the shop today? If you’re not tired, of course.”

Seungkwan’s eyes widened. “Don’t even ask dumb questions. Why would I ever say no to being around you for an entire day?”

“Fair point,” Hansol smiled.

☆

 

Joshua walked over to the large futon with a tray holding a kettle and three mugs. White morning light peeked into the room through the sheer curtains.

“It’s matcha tea this morning,” he said, placing the tray down on the table, “and coffee for Seungcheol.”

“You know me well,” Seungcheol smiled. He shifted his blanket and leaned forward to grab his mug.

“You really should start drinking tea though,” Jeonghan said from next to him. His long hair was mussed against the soft pillows. “You’re not a real witch until you drink tea all the time.”

“Okay, that’s not true, but I’m not going to argue,” Joshua said, and took his comfortable position under the blankets in between the two other witches.

It was a personal tradition for the three witches to spend the night after a ritual together, tucked away between white duvets and throw pillows, and then wake up the next morning right next to each other, warm and cozy despite the unfriendly winds outside.

“You two can enjoy your matcha tea without annoying me about my love for coffee,” Seungcheol said, taking a sip.

Jeonghan sighed and buried himself further in the pillow.

Seungcheol smiled and turned away to glance at the window. “I can’t believe it’s already November.”

“Soon the beautiful red and oranges will turn to bare white,” Joshua phrased poetically.

“And we’ll have the coven in Christmas decorations.”

“And the town will be alive with carols and lights.”

“And it’ll be cold as fuck.”

“ _Jeonghan_.”

“What? It’s already like six degrees outside.”

“Which gives us an excuse to do this,” Joshua gestured to the three of them, laying contentedly in a soft pile with their tea and coffee.

“We would do this even if it wasn’t cold, don’t make excuses,” Jeonghan said with a giggle.

“It’s really nice though,” Seungcheol said softly. “I enjoy moments like these. I like feeling safe and warm with the both of you.”

“Oh my god, he’s being soft,” Jeonghan whispered. Seungcheol leaned over Joshua to smack him lightly.

“Can I just appreciate the lovely moments we have together without a smart ass coment?”

“Smart ass comments are my specialty though,” Jeonghan winked.

“Do we have any plans for Christmas?” Joshua asked, changing the subject before Jeonghan and Seungcheol could start a quarrel first thing in the morning.

“Not really,” Seungcheol said.

“How about we go somewhere nice? Just the three of us.”

“And the Yule ritual?” Josh asked.

“We can go right after Christmas, so we’ll still be able to do it with the coven,” Seungcheol said.

“Can it be somewhere warm?” Jeonghan whined, pulling the blankets even higher up.

“Merlin, Jeonghan, it’s not even that cold. Just drink your tea like a real witch.”

“It  _is_  cold! I just said it’s six degrees outside!”

“Stop ruining the moment, both of you,” Joshua laughed. “Can we just enjoy the morning?”

“Fine, yeah,” Jeonghan said and buried his face into the crook of Joshua’s neck. “But we’re going somewhere warm for Christmas and neither of you can disagree.”

“ _Jeonghan._ ”

“Alright, fine I’ll shut up. Love you both.”

“Love you too.”

“Love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok seriously, let me know. do you want:
> 
> a) more chapters (24+1 to be exact) but half of them are pointless filler and fluff like this one  
> b) less chapters that are more spaced out so it’s more to the point but less filler fluffy chapters  
> c) i don’t care i’m here for the smut at the end
> 
> some stuff to consider is that from now on i’ll only be able to post chapters every two weeks, so if you want more fluff in between, the plot will take much longer to develop and this fic might go all the way until april (yikes or yay? you decide) but you do get tons of cute verkwan in return,,, so your choice here
> 
> i really need to know so yall better comment what you want!!!!!! please comment!!!!!  
> (but don’t comment C or I’ll come to your house in the middle of the night and whisper all your notps into your ear)
> 
> the next chapter is either fluff or not depending on what you guys want so answer the poll thanks!!


	14. A Collection of Moments pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter is, as mentioned previously, a collection of moments shared between Hansol and Seungkwan. They are separate events, randomly spread out over a course of multiple weeks.

Seungkwan was giving Hansol a look so intense that he didn’t know whether to be scared or aroused. Maybe not the second one. Not right now at least.

Finally, after a long silence, a load of unnecessary tension, and a deep, deep breath, Seungkwan asked, “So are Mingyu and Wonwoo a thing yet?”

“What the fuck dude?”

The two of them were lounging in Seungkwan’s bedroom. Hansol had closed shop since there would be a full moon that night and he needed to keep the atmosphere clean for a ritual, so the older had invited him over to his apartment for a change. Seungkwan was lying flat on his bed staring at the ceiling as he thought, and Hansol was perched comfortably atop his spacious windowsill.

“I’m serious!” Seungkwan exclaimed. “They’ve been flirting with each other for months but haven’t told us if they’re a couple or not!”

“If they were together, they could tell us when they want to,” Hansol said. He traced the corner of the windowpane with his finger.

“But they’re together, right?”

“How would I know?”

“Don’t your tarot cards reveal stuff like that?”

“No, they don’t.”

“Pretty shitty cards."

“My tarot cards are amazing, shut up.”

“But they kissed!”

“Pocky kisses don’t mean anything.”

“And then they did Seven Minutes in Heaven!”

“So did we.”

“Right. Nevermind.”

Hansol laughed. “Why do you want to know so badly?”

“Because they’d make a cute couple,” Seungkwan said. He paused for a moment in thought, then gasped. “We should make a couple name for them!”

“A couple name?” Hansol asked incredulously.

“Yeah!” Seungkwan said, too excited for his own good. “How about Minwoo? Or Wongyu? Or Gyuwoo?”

Hansol was doubled over in laughter. “Those sound ridiculous,” he giggled.

“I’m trying my best!” Seungkwan crossed his arms in fake anger. “Why don’t you suggest something?”

Hansol thought for a moment. “How about… Meanie?”

“Why the fuck.”

“Because Wonwoo is MEAN.”

“He’s only mean to you!” Seungkwan sat up to face Hansol properly. “Your couple name is even worse than the ones I gave you.”

“But it fits the most with Wonwoo’s personality, right?”

“You’ve got a point there,” Seungkwan sighed and dropped himself back onto his mattress. “I guess we’re calling them Meanie then.”

“I guess we are,” Hansol smiled and leaned against the windowsill in triumph.

“So… are  _Meanie_  a thing?”

“Are we seriously starting this again?”

“Yes.”

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

 

Though he wouldn’t admit it, Seungkwan was probably much more terrified of the horror movie they were watching at the local theater than Hansol was. But fuck it, he was going to be the brave one in the relationship and let Hansol cling onto him tighter every time there was a jumpscare.

“Kwannie,” Hansol whispered during a very loud and suspenseful moment where no one else would be able to hear his trembling voice. If he had his way, he'd prefer if Seungkwan also didn't need to hear his trembling voice, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice right then.“I regret picking this movie.”

“You were really excited about it when we were buying the tickets,” Seungkwan whispered back.

“Yeah, but that was when it didn’t seem that scary.”

Seungkwan was about to reply something barely comforting when there was another jumpscare and Hansol screamed right into his ear.

“Geez, Hansol, you really hate this,” Seungkwan said, shaking his head.

Hansol nodded and tightened his grip on Seungkwan’s arm. Figuring this position was comfortable for neither of them, Seungkwan carefully moved Hansol’s hands away and wrapped his arms around the younger, pulling them both into a protective hug. Hansol let out a shaky breath and allowed himself to sink into Seungkwan’s soft figure.

They were starting to realize they did this often, and starting to realize it was something both of them enjoyed a lot even though neither of them would admit it to the other. It was sort of an unspoken reassurance that if either was feeling any kind of negative feelings, the other would wrap them up in a warm hug and everything would become better.

They stayed like that until the credits began to roll, and only when the lights came back on and people started to stand up and leave did they realize that others could see them.

“Shit, we look like we just cuddled the entire movie,” Seungkwan hissed.

“And what’s wrong with that?” Hansol said, still snugly tucked away next to the other. He was far too happy now that the movie was over.

“It’s a horror movie!” Seungkwan sighed. “And even if it wasn’t… only lovey-dovey couples do that.”

Hansol looked up at Seungkwan, whose face was now a shade of red matching the velveted walls of the theater. Interesting.

“Kwannie, are you actually embarrassed? I can stop if you want,” Hansol said cautiously, removing his hand where it was placed around the opposite side of Seungkwan’s waist.

“No!” Seungkwan said abruptly. A few heads turned their way. He added next, a bit quieter, “I don’t mind the cuddling. Just maybe we could do it somewhere other than a theater, you know?”

“Are you suggesting we take this back to my place?” Hansol said, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

“Hansol, you perv!” A few more heads turned their way.

The raven-haired boy laughed. “Fine, let’s go get dinner and then we can head back to the shop for some totally non-sexual relaxing. How does that sound?”

“I really wish you wouldn’t keep bringing it up, but yes, that sounds perfect.”

 

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

 

****_You have one unread message from ‘Hansolie’._ ** **

****Hansolie**** (11:24 pm): kwannie <3

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:25 pm): kwannieeee

 ** **Hansolie****  (11:25 pm): kwannieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:25 pm): answer meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:25 pm): njklll;'';m

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:25 pm): ';;'

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:25 pm): 'klmsfps;

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:26 pm): sgwteu;r;[s

 ** **Boo**** (11:26 pm): Did you just have a stroke or something?

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:26 pm): you take too long to reply!!!

 ** **Boo**** (11:26 pm): I’m pretty sure it was less than a minute but alright.

 ** **Hansolie****  (11:26): it was not less than a minute!!

 ** **Hansolie**** (11:26): i’m turning off timestamps so you can’t see it anymore

 ** **Hansolie:**** there!! hah!!!

 ** **Boo:**** You do know that turning off timestamps only affects what you see, right?

 ** **Boo:****  I can still see timestamps.

 ** **Hansolie:**** dammit

 ** **Hansolie:**** ur so mean today!!!!! what’s with the sassy ass???

 ** **Boo:**** I was enjoying my book in bed before you interrupted me.

 ** **Hansolie:**** what if i was in bed with you? ;)))))

 ** **Boo:**** I really do think that was the most douchey white boy thing you have ever texted me.

 ** **Hansolie**** ** **:**** ok first of all im 50% white boy so that gives me an excuse to do that

 ** **Boo:**** 50% white boy: yes. You don't need to act like a fuckboy, Hansol.

 ** **Hansolie:**** rude

 ** **Boo:**** Why did you text me anyway?

 ** **Hansolie:**** its cold outside!!

 ** **Boo:**** …That’s not a reason but okay.

 ** **Hansolie:**** it’s like three degrees!! i want death!!!!!

 ** **Hansolie:**** i’m gonna sue the sun

 ** **Hansolie:**** also did you see the yellow warning for winds on the news this morning??

 ** **Hansolie:****  prepare my funeral please and thanks

 ** **Boo:****  I can’t believe people think  _I’m_  the drama queen between the two of us.

 ** **Hansolie:**** you are tho

 ** **Hansolie:****  you know what would make me feel warmer?

 ** **Boo:**** Do I even want to know?

 ** **Hansolie:****  yeah!!!!

 ** **Hansolie:**** can i come over and cuddle??

 ** **Boo:**** We’ve been doing this every day for the last two weeks, Hansol

 ** **Hansolie:**** yeah but its cold today!!

 ** **Hansolie:**** we gotta huddle to keep warm! like penguins!!

 ** **Boo:**** Okay, I’m not going to argue against cuddling. Come over whenever.

 ** **Hansolie:**** yesssssss

 ** **Hansolie:**** ♡

 ** **Boo:**** ♡

 

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

 

“And you’re certain we won’t fall off the roof?”

“Yes, I’m a hundred percent certain.”

“A hundred isn’t enough, Hansol. I need you to be a hundred and  _ten_  percent certain.”

“Kwan, I swear you’re not going to fall off the roof.”

“Alright, but if I do, it’s on you.”

The two witches were lying flat on the roof of Hansol’s shop-apartment complex. Hansol himself never came up here, since it was just an even brick surface with a small railing on one end. But a few nights ago, he had discovered that you could get a magnificent view of the night sky up here, and of course, he needed to show Seungkwan.

However, Seungkwan was too preoccupied with the fact that they were on a fucking roof to enjoy the stars above him.

“Are you ever going to enjoy the view or are you going to keep complaining about falling off?” Hansol said with a sigh.

“But I  _am_  enjoying the view.”

Hansol netted his brows in confusion and tilted his head to face Seungkwan, only to realize that the other was already looking back at him.

“You’re so cheesy!” Hansol screeched and swatted at Seungkwan wildly. “Just enjoy the damn stars!”

Seungkwan was trying very hard to speak in between his erratic bursts of laughter. “Okay, fine!” he wheezed. “Sorry!”

Hansol rolled back into a comfortable position so he could look up at the sky. They had watched the sun set, and now everything was dark velvet and sparkling jewels and the constant low humming of the town below them.

“See that?” Hansol said, pointing up at a particularly large spot of light. “That’s Venus.”

“She’s beautiful,” Seungkwan said, finally having calmed down enough to get a glimpse of everything above him.

“And that’s Jupiter near her,” Hansol continued, tracing his finger in the air as if drawing a path between the two of them. “And if you look up a bit further, there’s Saturn. That’s your ruling planet.”

“Hi, Saturn,” Seungkwan said softly, smiling up at it. He turned to Hansol. “What’s your ruling planet?”

“Uranus,” Hansol replied. “We won’t be able to see it this evening.

“You can if you want to,” Seungkwan said with a sly smile. Hansol swatted him again.

“Is there anything else up there then?”

Hansol thought for a moment. “Aliens.”

“I was being serious, Hansol.”

“So was I.”

The two paused to stare at each other for a moment.

“Do you seriously believe in aliens?” Seungkwan asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Hansol said shortly, sounding the tiniest bit offended.

“I never understood why people believed in them,” Seungkwan said. “Why do they always have to have large green heads and probe people?”

“I didn’t say I believed in green-head aliens,” Hansol protested. “I just believe there’s life out there. The universe is so big. Like, it fucks up your head just trying to think of how big it is. So why isn’t there a possibility of somebody else being out there? We’ve only sent out space vehicles so far. How would we know if there was a planet full of living beings just beyond of Voyager 1? Maybe they look just like us. Or maybe they have giant green heads. Or maybe the only life out there are tiny little bugs. Or bacteria. Doesn’t matter, they’re still alive. Or they could be green headed and super smart and have been sending us messages but the government doesn’t want us to know that there are messages. Or maybe they’re not so smart and it’s all just in our heads. Maybe the government planted the idea of aliens in our head to distract us from something else. Or maybe Area 51 is real and there are actually aliens already on earth. Like a Men In Black situation, you know? My point is, aliens are real and if you don’t agree then I’ll fight you on it.”

Seungkwan stared at him in awe. “I promise I’ll never say they aren’t real again if you’re going to drop a speech on me like that every time. Goddamn.”

 

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

 

It was almost two in the morning when Seungkwan’s phone suddenly blared out the intro to SNSD’s Lionheart. Though he could not recall ever setting that as a custom ringtone, he reached out anyway from under his blankets and grabbed the phone to answer.

“Hansol?” he asked once the call was connected. “Why are you calling so late?”

Hansol’s voice, deep in the way it was late at night but full of something else Seungkwan couldn't place, replied from the other end, “I can’t sleep.”

“And you decided to call me?”

“Yeah…”

Seungkwan felt something stir inside of him.

“I tried and tried, but nothing’s working. Not even valerian tea, and you know I only take valerian if the situation is insanely bad.”

Seungkwan thought for a moment. “Meet me outside the shop in twenty minutes. I know exactly what we can do.”

Hansol soon discovered that Seungkwan’s plan was more well thought than he expected. The older one had picked him up from his shop and they had driven to the other side of town and a bit further. Now, Hansol found himself standing in front of a retro-style late night diner, complete with pink checkered tiles and a jukebox and the spellbinding aroma of vanilla milkshakes. It seemed like everything in Seungkwan’s life was perfect aesthetics and perfect people and perfect places, and Hansol had just bought a one-way ticket in.

“Why have I never known that this place existed?” Hansol asked, taking in the sight as they walked in together. A slow jazz number was playing from somewhere they couldn't see.

“It’s not that popular,” Seungkwan said, gesturing around the diner. Only two other tables were occupied. “Also it’s a bit out of town so people wouldn’t normally drive all the way out here for a waffle.”

They found a corner booth with just the right amount of privacy and a decent view of the illuminated menu above the counter.

“I’m feeling a strawberry milkshake,” Seungkwan said, scanning his options illustrated on the board. “You?”

“I didn’t bring any money. I didn’t know where we were going.”

Seungkwan raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “I dragged you all the way out here, so there’s no way I would expect you to pay. I’m treating you, alright?”

“But it’s my fault we’re here at this time of night,” Hansol began to explain, but Seungkwan was having none of it.

“Listen, this was my idea, so I’m paying. Now do you want a milkshake or are you more of a late night burger guy?”

“I don’t want you spending on m-”

“Hansol, honestly,” Seungkwan said with all the authority of a soccer mom. “If you’re that worried about me paying, how about we make a compromise?”

Hansol tilted his head. “Like what?”

Seungkwan thought for a moment. “I’ll buy us a burger  _and_  a milkshake. Just one of each. So that way, I’m not spending as much and I’ll still be buying it for you.”

“Are you sure about this?” Hansol asked quietly.

“Never been more certain. Unless you’ll let me buy us both separate milksha-”

“No!” Hansol yelled. “This is fine! Just one milkshake and burger to split.”

A waitress in a pink apron and matching heels came over to take their order. Her nametag read ‘Yebin’ in a curly pink font.

“A strawberry milkshake and a burger,” Seungkwan said.

She eyed them carefully. “Just one?”

Seungkwan nodded. Hansol wanted to explain the situation to her but couldn’t find the confidence to.

“Alright,” she said, tearing out the page from her tiny notepad. “I’ll be right back with your order then.”

“I hope you like strawberry milkshakes,” Seungkwan said to Hansol. “I forgot to ask before I ordered.”

“Strawberry milkshakes are great,” Hansol replied, still slightly disconcerted.

“I hope you like the place too,” the other continued. “It’s not a five-star restaurant or anything, but I think it’s cute. It’s very pink.”

“You have a natural attraction to pink things, huh?”

Seungkwan looked at him questioningly. “The pink hoodie,” Hansol explained.

“Oh, right. It’s just comfy. Besides, it’s not just me. Every time you make me tea, it’s always in the pink mug.”

“Pink and you go well together,” Hansol said, earning an ironic pink blush from the other.  _Perfect aesthetics._

Their waitress, Yebin, appeared in front of their table soon enough with a tray and a smile.

“Here’s your order,” she said, “one burger and one strawberry milkshake for the lovely couple.”

Now was Hansol’s cue to turn pink.

She put down two straws and a couple of rosy napkins, her eyes twinkling as she left.

“So,” Seungkwan said, picking up the straws, “milkshake?”

And as the two leaned forward, their hearts pounding in their chests, the aromas of vanilla and waffles and cream dancing around them, and a sweet jazz tune played in the air, all was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: do you know that feeling when you’re eating an entire bag of marshmallows and its too sweet and after a while you start to feel queasy but it lowkey feels good because you enjoyed those marshmallows so much? yeah that’s what writing this chapter was like.
> 
> i actually based some of the text messaging bits off of how i text my best friends, so if that part was in any way interesting, i could totally include something like that in a future chapter or oneshot or drabble or whatever
> 
> also a million times THANK YOU to everyone who voted on the last chapter's poll. the results were an overwhelming A so here's the fluff you guys wanted. i hope no one has gotten bored of all the sweetness and left, i promise you there’s an actual climax to the story, i just enjoy filling you up with sweet things before something goes terribly wrong muahahahhahaa


	15. Traffic Sign Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY FOR SO MUCH FILLER OK JUST TAKE IT

“MINGHAO, YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOUR ASS OR YOU WON’T HAVE ONE ANYMORE!”

“Jihoon, that was a terrible threat,” Seungcheol sighed, “and I’m sure there’s a reason for this.”

A week ago, Minghao had stopped by each of the coven member’s houses to personally deliver a basket full of specialized potions. There were a few obscure ones, such as cures for poisonous plants and formulas for spells, but there were also a few practical ones, such as the magic hair treatment.

However, Hansol had realized the problem with Minghao’s magical hair treatment the second he had stepped out of the shower. One look in the mirror, and he realized his hair was no longer black. Instead, wet locks of  _blond_  hair were framing his face. If he wasn’t a witch and had known about the existence of magic, he might have actually had a heart attack right there.

But as he looked around the room at the twelve other witches, he figured his hair color change wasn’t nearly as drastic as the ones some of the other ones had. Like Jihoon’s, for example.

“HE BETTER HAVE A REASON TO WHY MY HAIR IS NEON YELLOW! I LOOK LIKE A FUCKING HIGHLIGHTER!”

“Jihoon, please,” Seungcheol said again. “It’s not as if I wanted silver hair either, so let’s calm down and figure out what happened.”

Minghao shook his head. “I really don’t know! I thought I had gotten the recipe down. All this was supposed to do was make your hair look amazing.”

“I think your potion’s definition of amazing was different from yours,” Jeonghan laughed, running a hand through his long,  _pink_  hair. It seemed to serve his title as ‘angel’ well, though at least half the coven would secretly agree that the nickname no longer fit his cunning and playful personality.

“Well, it’s not like  _I_  wanted to look like cotton candy,” Minghao defended himself, pointing to the pastel blues and pinks in his hair. The sweetheart look was clashing with the earring and leather jacket he had on.

“It looks nice,” Jun winked from across the room. His own look was magenta, a few shades more purple than Jeonghan’s.

“Is there any way to reverse this?” Mingyu asked. His hair was the same blond as Hansol’s, or perhaps a shade brighter.

“Do you hate it?” Wonwoo asked, reaching up to push a strand of hair out of Mingyu’s face. “It looks nice, like with your tan skin.”

Hansol had noticed a change in Mingyu and Wonwoo’s behavior recently. Ever since the kiss between the two on Halloween, they’d both become extremely flustered around each other all the time. Seungkwan was extremely convinced they were dating in secret, but something about the way they were acting made Hansol question how much they were willing to admit to each other right now.

“Well, I don’t hate it, necessarily,” Mingyu replied, the red tips of his ears peeking out from under the cropped golden locks. “I just wanted to ask in case someone here doesn’t like their hair and wanted to reverse it.”

Wonwoo secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was the only one in the coven who hadn’t tried the hair treatment that Minghao had given everyone, and while he was thankful that his hair was the same inky black, he had to agree that Mingyu’s blond hair was only adding to the fact that the boy was a whole golden sculpture.

“LIKE ME!” Jihoon screeched. “I NEED TO REVERSE THIS!”

“Shut up, traffic sign head,” Jeonghan said. Jihoon made an attempt to attack him but was held back by Joshua.

“Jihoon, you know he’s only doing it to annoy you,” Joshua said, pulling the smaller one back into his seat. A mop of ginger hair sat on his head. Seokmin had called him Ron Weasley at least seven times since he entered the room and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Seokmin’s hair was ultramarine, and right across from him, Hoshi’s hair was tangerine: both perfect complimentary colors of each other.

While half of the coven’s hair were hazardously bright (though not unflattering, as Jeonghan’s luscious bubblegum tresses proved), and the other half only had to accept the change of a few shades to brown and blonde, one person’s hair really seemed to attract Hansol’s attention

Seungkwan’s fluffy, dark fringe had transformed into beautiful, short rose gold waves. They stood out against his honey skin, perfectly framing his plump cheeks with those high cheekbones, and shone every time he turned his head just so the light from the window could reach it. Hansol was lovestruck.

“I’m not sure about this,” Seungkwan said to Hansol, reaching up to pat the top of his own head.

“It looks…  _wonderful,_ ” Hansol said, for lack of a better word.

“Are you sure? You look really nice with blond hair. I think I see more of your American side like this. Mine isn’t even a natural color,” Seungkwan whined.

Hansol put his arm around Seungkwan and pulled him closer. “Trust me when I say it looks good. And remember, pink is your color. No one pulls it off better than you.”

Seungkwan smiled. “Thank you.”

“Oi!” Jun called out jokingly. “No PDA during meetings! We got shit to do!”

♡

Wonwoo wrapped his black scarf tighter as he stepped out of townhouse 17SC. It was snowing softly, blurs of white occasionally drifting by his line of vision, just enough to call it a lovely winter day. While Wonwoo didn’t hate the snow, he’d much rather have been at home in front of a warm fire, so he was trying his best to get himself from the covenstead to his home as quick as possible.

He turned around to shut the door, but to his horror ended up slamming the door into someone else on the other side. Mingyu stepped out from the doorway, rubbing at his forehead, a confused expression on his features.

“I’m so sorry!” Wonwoo said frantically, reaching up to check where Mingyu had gotten hurt.

“It’s alright,” Mingyu said, smiling sympathetically. “If I must hurt myself at least once a day, I’m glad I got today’s accident over with.”

“No, seriously, Gyu,” Wonwoo said, pressing gently at the spot with his thumb. “I’m really sorry. How bad does it hurt?”

“Not too bad,” Mingyu said.

“Don’t lie to me. Does it hurt?”

“Just a bit,” he confessed.

“Shit. I’m really sorry. Maybe Seokmin has something in the house we can use.”

“It’s not that bad, Wonwoo, really,” Mingyu reassured. “There’ll probably be a huge bump, but a bump isn’t the end of the world, right?”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Wonwoo fretted, still grazing at the side of Mingyu’s forehead.

Mingyu stared at the other for a second, then said, “You can make it up to me, if you want.”

Wonwoo let his arm drop. “How?”

“Let me walk you home.”

At this point, Wonwoo was glad the scarf was covering half his face to Mingyu wouldn’t be able to see how embarrassed he was.

“Sure, I guess,” he said, letting himself follow the other down the stairs and onto the sidewalk. “Weird way to say sorry for hurting you.”

“It’ll make me feel better,” Mingyu laughed, his canines peeking out at the sides of his smile. Wonwoo loved getting a glimpse of them, because when they appeared it meant Mingyu was happy, and when Mingyu was happy, Wonwoo was happy.

It turned out that Mingyu’s playful side came out when it snowed. Wonwoo was finding it hard to concentrate on walking home quickly when the tall witch next to him was enjoying himself so much trying to catch snowflakes and blow them at him.

“Do you think I can catch it on my tongue?” Mingyu gushed.

“Probably,” Wonwoo replied.

Mingyu let out a laugh and stuck out his tongue.

 _He’s so cute,_  Wonwoo thought to himself as he watched the other intently: admiring his jawline, his soft eyes, the broad shoulders, but most of all everything kind and caring and playful beneath that you couldn’t see. It was the way he doodled on his palm with his finger when he wasn’t paying attention to something. It was the way he apologized endlessly whenever he broke something in the covenstead on accident. It was the way he smiled when he realized what he said made Wonwoo laugh and he was loving the reaction. It was the way his deep voice rose a tiny bit higher when he was feeling nervous around Wonwoo.

_And I’m terribly in love._

“Wonwoo,” Mingyu said, snapping him out of his reverie. Their eyes caught each other. “Were you paying attention? I caught one!”

“You did?” Wonwoo said, catching a slight shakiness in his voice he was praying Mingyu wouldn’t notice.

“Yeah! It melted though,” Mingyu noted with a frown. “I can try again if you want to see.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Wonwoo said, a bit quieter.

Mingyu didn’t seem to have noticed the change in behavior. “Never mind, it’s pretty hard anyway,” he chattered. “How’s your crystal thing going?”

“My crystal thing?”

“Yeah. You, and crystals. Do you have any with you right now?”

Wonwoo nodded and pulled out a small, polished garnet out of the front of his coat.

“It’s pretty,” Mingyu commented.

Wonwoo nodded a thanks and slipped it back into the coat pocket. He realized his thoughts were a bit unfocused, but it was also like there was nothing he could do about it. Everything was working of its own accord.

“Crystals seem like a real fun power,” the other continued. “Divination is fun but I never really need to use it, you know. And most of the time it’s pretty fuzzy, so I only get a small picture even if something really big is going to happen. It’s a bit pointless, honestly. And I know people think crystals aren’t a real power, but it really suits you.”

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo said shortly, and then realized he didn’t know what he was doing. But Mingyu was looking at him questioningly to find out why he had been interrupted, so Wonwoo decided,  _fuck it._

He stopped in his path and turned to face the other. Mingyu raised an eyebrow and turned so he could mirror Wonwoo.

“Is this about the crystal power thing?” he asked quickly, on the verge of rambling. “Because I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s a real power, for sure. I was just saying there’s other people who don’t think it is, but not m-”

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo repeated. “It’s not that.”

The two were standing on the sidewalk right next to the  town park, but there were no cars or people around them. It was only Mingyu and Wonwoo, standing across from each other, both unsure about what was happening.

“Mingyu, I…” Wonwoo started. He could hear the nervousness in his tone, and ended up saying the next few words so quietly it was almost a whisper. “I really like you.”

Mingyu didn’t say anything immediately after. He just stared, wide-eyed, at Wonwoo. After a quiet moment, he asked almost silently, “You do?”

Wonwoo’s lower lip trembled, and then he realized what he was saying wasn’t true. His line of vision flitted down to his feet and to the snow around his boots, and they stayed there.

“No, I don’t,” Wonwoo said, and Mingyu’s face fell.

“Oh.”

Because he didn’t just  _like_  Mingyu.

_“I love you.”_

Mingyu didn’t say anything.

Wonwoo couldn’t see the expression on Mingyu’s face.

He was too scared to look up at it.

He was scared he’d see a look of confusion.

Or a look of disgust.

Or worst of all, a look of regret.

And Wonwoo began to fret. Maybe he should have never admitted his feelings. He wasn’t usually the type to be open about his emotions to begin with.

He was considering leaving, not even taking the chance to look at Mingyu. If he just turned and walked away, it eliminated the heartbreak entirely.

And then there would have been no point to this whole charade. They couldn’t remain friends after this no matter the end result. Wonwoo would probably end up cutting all ties with Mingyu and leaving the coven if it meant it could save him from the awkwardness that would ensue if Mingyu didn’t feel the same way.

But then, all of a sudden and not at all, Mingyu’s finger was under his chin, and Wonwoo’s head was being gently lifted so they could lock eyes with each other.

And Mingyu’s expression was not one of confusion, or disgust, or even regret. Instead he had a sweet, shy smile. And then those canines appeared.

“Wonwoo,” he said softly. “I love you too.”

All the terrifying thoughts from a second ago were replaced with a simple:  _oh fuck._

“What?” Wonwoo croaked out, refusing to believe his ears.

“I really, really love you, Jeon Wonwoo. I love your piercing eyes and how they look for me every time you walk into a coven meeting. I love your cute nose scrunch and how cute you look when you let yourself laugh and be carefree. I love your sweet sweater paws and your ability to stand for what you believe in and your inability to take a decent picture of yourself. I love everything hidden under that beautiful surface of yours, because it’s equally as beautiful.”

 _Those details_ , Wonwoo realized,  _were told in exactly the same way Wonwoo had originally began to realize he was in love with Mingyu. Which meant this was real. This was happening._

And then Wonwoo, completely losing all remaining control of his body, leaned forward and delicately pressed his lips against Mingyu’s. It was almost identical to the way it had happened a month and a half ago: soft and barely there, but at the same time, all at once. The only difference was that this time all the feelings were there and out in the open, and everything felt like it was on both ends of the spectrum of vulnerable and complete.

Mingyu found himself raising an arm to gently place it by Wonwoo’s cheek. It was cold, and Wonwoo shuddered at the touch, so Mingyu slid his hand down to cradle the back of Wonwoo’s neck, bringing the other witch closer so the collars of their coats were grazing each other, and so Mingyu could kiss Wonwoo a little more. Wonwoo followed suit, letting his hands lightly take hold of Mingyu’s waist, all the while never separating from the other.

The snow seemed to drift around them, creating a personal circle filled with all the feelings they couldn’t have said out loud, and when Mingyu finally pulled away, it was because a snowflake had landed right in between them, and then the first thing he managed to breath out was, “Of all the things I could have prophesized with my stupid little magic powers, I would have never have seen that coming.”

But on the other side of town, in a warm little wiccan shoppe, a witch was pulling out a single card from a tarot deck that simply read ‘The Lovers’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im cryin g
> 
> this chapter was SO much fun to write, i did this all at like midnight on a wednesday so it was v v emotional but also F L U F F
> 
> the first half was just me allowing myself to be a hoe about rose gold seungkwan (i hope yall can agree he is a whole masterpiece) and the second half is actual subplot development
> 
> on a different note: if, theoretically, per say, there was going to be a special chapter, would you guys want:
> 
> a) short POVs from the coven members (minus hansol and seungkwan)
> 
> b) a meanie special chapter
> 
> c) a regular chapter because this shit is taking too long to happen
> 
> thanks a bunch!! stay happy and healthy!!!!


	16. Christmas

♫  _Have a holly jolly Christmas_

_It's the best time of the year_

_Well I don't know if there'll be snow_

_But have a cup of cheer_ ♫

 

“Kwannie, this is like, the seventh time you’ve replayed that song during this car ride. I’m starting to hate Burl Ives’ voice, and I’m pretty sure that’s humanely impossible because he has the happiest Christmas singing voice ever.”

Seungkwan leaned back in his seat and pouted. “It’s a good song! We need to get into the holiday spirit before we get to the hotel. Also, I beg to differ on your choice of happiest Christmas singing voice because Frank Sinatra's Christmas album exists."

“I’m sure there’ll be Christmas music playing there too,” Hansol said, flicking the indicator behind the steering wheel. "And I said happiest singing voice, not  _best_ Christmas singing voice. In fact, I'd rather be listening to Sinatra right now if it means you'll change the song."

Less than two weeks ago, Hansol had gotten a late invitation to a fancy Christmas dinner at a hotel in the city, held by a few acquaintances of his. It would cost him a 40 minute drive and an expensive suit, but at least the invitation had also stated that he was allowed to bring someone along, and that was all the convincing he had needed.

He didn’t drive places very often. They lived in a fairly small town, so walking was the way to go. It wasn’t pleasant in the wintertime, but why drag the car out of the garage and try for ten minutes to get it to start when you could take a stroll that didn’t require you to pay gas money, right?

However, the closest city was definitely out of walking distance, so he had picked Seungkwan up in his sweet little Figaro and they made the trip out of town.

“Hansol! Enjoy the snow! Enjoy the beautiful lights! It’s the happiest time of the year!”

“It’s a bit hard to enjoy the snow when you’re trying to drive against it.”

“I offered to drive but you didn’t want to let me.”

“Yeah, because I’ve seen the way you trip over your own feet,” Hansol laughed, receiving a grumble of protest. “No way I’m going to let you drive my car in this weather. At least let me complain about the snow until we get there.”

Seungkwan placed a reassuring hand on Hansol’s knee, but the latter would argue that it was in fact more distracting than comforting, considering whose hand it was and where it was placed currently, oh no-

♫  _Have a holly jolly Christmas_ ♫

Hansol groaned. “Are we seriously doing this again?”

“The entire way there, baby,” Seungkwan giggled before belting out the rest of the song as if he were Ives himself.

 

♫  _Have a holly jolly Christmas_

_And when you walk down the street_

_Say hello to friends you know_

_And everyone you meet_ ♫

 

“We’re here!” Seungkwan announced, still in a very sing-song way. He had managed to fit in three more replays of  _Holly Jolly Christmas_  before they finally arrived at the venue.

Stories of glass windows loomed over their car as they found a spot to park. Seungkwan hopped out of the car excitedly, stomping around on the snow. Hansol turned the key and pulled on a pair of dark gloves before exiting.

“So what’s this dinner going to be like?” Seungkwan asked, peeking over the roof of the car to talk to Hansol on the other side.

“Fancy,” Hansol replied. He gestured for the other to follow him towards the entrance.

“Anything else I need to know?”

“There are going to be  _so_  many people.”

Seungkwan paused to take a look at Hansol’s expression. “You’re not great with people and social stuff, huh?”

Hansol smiled and shrugged.

Seungkwan took Hansol’s hand as a comforting gesture. “You've become so comfortable in the coven that I forget meeting new people worries you. You’ll be alright up there, okay? I’ll be right by your side making sure nothing goes awkwardly. And if worst comes to worst, we can French exit the fuck out of there.”

Hansol let out a shaky laugh. “You’re the best. Really, Kwannie.”

“I know, that’s why I’m here,” he replied, giving Hansol’s hand a tight squeeze.

A woman in a topknot and blazer approached them as they entered the reception area.

“Are you two here for the Christmas dinner?” she asked.

“Yes, we are,” Hansol replied courteously.

“Names, please,” she requested, pulling out a clipboard and a pen.

“Hansol Vernon Choi and guest,” he answered.

She scanned the list quickly before finding his name. “Perfect, follow me.”

"Did you really have to give her your full name?" Seungkwan whispered as they trailed the woman towards the elevators. "You're so pretentious."

"Tis the one and only," Hansol said with a flourish of his hand.

Seungkwan lightly shoved his shoulder. "You're so embarrassing," he said, looking around to make sure no one else saw them play-fighting like children in the middle of an expensive hotel lobby.

Upon reaching the elevators, the woman scanned a card she wore on a lanyard around her neck so the doors would open. “It’s on the 33rd floor,” she explained, clicking the respective button on the inside. “It’ll take you right up.”

A soft music box version of a classic Christmas song was playing inside the elevator. Seungkwan picked up the tune and began to sing along softly.

“You’ve really been into the Christmas spirit today, haven’t you?” Hansol said, admiring the way Seungkwan was closing his eyes and nodding his head as he hummed.

A ding went off as they passed a level up.

Seungkwan smiled. “Yeah, all this snow and bright lights really got into my head,” he laughed.

Another ding went off as they passed another level.

“It’s nice, seeing you all cheerful like this,” Hansol admitted.

Another ding.

“Would you say I’m having a  _holly jolly Christmas_?” Seungkwan quipped.

Ding.

Hansol groaned.

There was no ding.

The lights went out.

The music stopped.

“Fuck,” Hansol said from somewhere in the dark. There was a quick fumbling movement and then the light from his phone’s flashlight illuminated his face. “Why did the lights go out?”

“Maybe the power went out?” Seungkwan suggested. “Maybe it was the snow. It  _was_  pretty heavy on our way here.”

“What a terrible thing to happen on Christmas,” Hansol grumbled.

"Not a holly jolly Christmas anymore."

"Literally shut up."

Seungkwan snorted.

"Any suggestions?" Hansol asked. 

“Can you call someone? Like the people who invited you.”

“They’re probably stuck in the dark Christmas dinner hall too, so I don’t think that’s much help.”

“How about one of our friends? Seungcheol would know what to do.”

“I guess so,” Hansol said, and flipped over his phone to try and make a call, but stopped once he read the screen. “No service.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Seungkwan screeched before heaving an overdramatic sigh.

“The snowstorm,” Hansol explained dolefully.

“That was nothing close to a snowstorm outside,” Seungkwan grumbled.

“It might have been on our way up here. This elevator ride was taking too long anyway.”

“Yeah… you’re righ,.” Seungkwan said, and then proceeded to sit down on the floor of the elevator. “But if we’re going to wait, I’m not standing up the entire time.”

Hansol smiled and sat cross-legged next to the other.

“How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?” Seungkwan asked, stretching out his legs.

“Who knows? Twenty minutes? An hour?”

“Do power outages ever last a day?” Seungkwan gasped.

“Let’s hope not, unless you happen to have a snack bar in one of those jacket pockets.”

“Unlikely,” Seungkwan said, reaching into his pockets and pulling out nothing. He leaned his head back onto the wall of the elevator. “Should we try the emergency phone button?”

“I think that requires the power to be working too,” Hansol said with a sigh.

“Fine. Whatever. Also you never told me your middle name is Vernon.”

“Why are you asking me this now?” Hansol asked with a laugh.

“Because we’re stuck in this elevator and I don’t want to get bored,” Seungkwan said.

“Fair enough,” Hansol replied. “But yeah, Vernon’s my mother’s last name. I only introduce myself as Vernon when I don’t know the person too well.”

“You introduced yourself as Hansol to me,” Seungkwan poked.

“Because you didn’t seem intimidating,” Hansol pointed out.

“I can  _so_  be intimidating,” Seungkwan said, trying his best to put on an intimidating face.

“You look like your stomach hurts,” Hansol teased. Seungkwan let out an offended 'HEY' in objection.

“Do you have any other family secrets you haven’t told me?”

Hansol thought for a moment. “Have I told you about my sister?”

Seungkwan’s eyes lit up. “You have a sister?”

“Yeah, she’s younger than me. Her name’s Sofia.”

“Is she a witch too?” Seungkwan asked.

“She could be, but she thinks its too much work so she isn't one. I’m the only magical one in the family besides my mother,” Hansol said.

“You can avoid being a witch?” Seungkwan asked.

“She just doesn’t use magic, but she could definitely learn if she wanted to.”

“Do you have any pictures of her?”

Hansol nodded and pulled up a picture on his phone of the two of them from a year ago. The pair were posing in front of a patterned wall, Hansol’s arms wrapped around Sofia lovingly.

“She’s so cute!” Seungkwan squealed. “And she looks just like you! You  _have_  to introduce me to her sometime, okay?”

Hansol laughed. “Fine, I will. Do you have any siblings?”

“Two sisters,” Seungkwan replied. “But we probably quarrel more than you and Sofia do. They’re always pinching my cheeks and tackling me. I love them but there’s only so much pinching you can take.”

“But your cheeks just  _need_  to be pinched,” Hansol said, reaching over and pinching the other’s cheek lightly.

“Not you too!” Seungkwan said, laughing and swatting Hansol’s hand away.

“As long as you don’t lose your precious cheeks, I’ll be fine,” Hansol said.

Seungkwan lifted a hand to touch his cheek. “But what if I want cheekbones like yours?”

“If they make you happy, you can touch my cheekbones as much as you want. But I don’t want you forcing yourself to lose weight so you lose your cheeks, alright?”

Seungkwan let out a sigh and smiled. “Okay, Vernonie.”

The tips of Hansol’s ears reddened. “Where did that nickname come from?”

“Can’t I call you Vernonie too?” Seungkwan pouted.

“This is too much cuteness for me to handle,” Hansol said and wrapped his arms around the other.

They held on tight for a moment before Hansol pulled away.

“Wait a minute,” he said quietly. “You can teleport.”

Seungkwan gave him a look. “Yeah, and?”

“Can’t you teleport us out of here?”

They stared at each other in disbelief for a second before bursting into laughter.

“We are  _so_  smart,” Seungkwan snorted. “Stand up, I’ll try my best to get us out of here.”

“Are you sure about this?” Hansol asked cautiously. “You’ve only been able to teleport yourself small distances. How are you going to teleport both of us out?”

“I don’t know,” Seungkwan shrugged. “Maybe if you hold my hand while I do it, it’ll work.”

“Worth a shot,” Hansol said, lacing his fingers with Seungkwan. The other let out a shaky breath.

“Here we go,” Seungkwan said, closing his eyes to concentrate. “Hold still.”

"This is going to look real weird on the security tapes."

"Hansol, don't make me laugh while I concentrate or I'll end up disfiguring you like in Harry Potter when they don't apparate properly."

"Fine, fine."

As he closed his own eyes, Hansol felt a warmth travel from Seungkwan’s hand to his, a low humming noise rang in his ears. Remembering what Seungcheol had said, he centered his weight, and slowly, the warmth surrounding them turned into a chilly wind, and the two witches opened their eyes to find themselves standing right in front of Hansol’s car.

Seungkwan let out a loud sound of triumph, and then immediately lost his balance and toppled on top of Hansol, who caught him in time.

“Are you alright?” Hansol asked.

“It’s like I lost all my energy,” Seungkwan breathed. “I can’t feel my legs.”

“But you did it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did.”

Hansol laughed. “We need to celebrate. Let’s get out of here.”

 

♫  _Oh, ho, the mistletoe_

_Hung where you can see_

_Somebody waits for you_

_Kiss him once for me_ ♫

 

They found themselves in front of the diner again, the pastel colors now complimented with festive reds and greens and golds. Instead of the smooth jazz that was playing last time, a cheerful holiday tune was audible from the jukebox.

As Seungkwan took his seat at the same booth they were at last time, Hansol stopped at the counter to place a quick order. He joined the other right after, sliding into the booth opposite from Seungkwan and placing two hot chocolates in between them.

“Have you gotten into the Christmas spirit too?” Seungkwan smiled, pulling his mug towards himself. There was a foam heart floating on the top.

“It was the waitress’s recommendation. She thought it would make for a cute date.”

Seungkwan tried his hardest to hide a squeal.

They spent a calming hour and a half just watching the snow fall on the other side of the large glass windows, sipping on their hot chocolates, laughing at each other’s foam mustaches, tossing marshmallows at each other, singing along to the holiday tunes – both as loud and obnoxiously as they possibly could, to the dismay of the few other customers in the diner and to the delight of the girl behind the counter – and laughing at each other’s ridiculous Christmas puns.

“Okay, how about this one?” Hansol said eagerly as they were finally leaving their table. “What do reindeers hang on their Christmas tree?”

“I don’t know, Hansol. What  _do_  reindeers hang on their trees?”

“Hornaments!”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “Reindeers have antlers, not horns.”

“Don’t ruin my jokes like this!” Hansol protested, tugging at Seungkwan’s arm like an upset child.

"Why are you  _so_  embarrassing today?"

They stopped at the front counter, where Yebin, their waitress from the last time they were here, was waiting next to the cash register. Hansol proceeded to pay – he had managed to convince Seungkwan on this by stating that the other had paid last time and he was the one that had dragged them out to the city today.

“Thanks for stopping by again,” Yebin said cheerfully.

“Of course!” Seungkwan exclaimed and then added dramatically, “Best diner in the damn country!”

She laughed as she handed them their receipt.

With a smile, he turned away to exit, as did Hansol, but Yebin spoke up again.

“You’re leaving right away?”

Seungkwan turned around. “Excuse me?”

“I thought you two of all people would be the type.”

“The type?” Hansol asked, perplexed.

She let out a small scoff and lifted a finger to point at something above her.

They tilted their heads to look up, and Seungkwan went pale. There was a bow of mistletoe hanging right above the counter.

Seungkwan began to blush furiously. “Oh – oh no,” he sputtered, “we’re just – we’re not – we, uh– ”

“Oh no, feel free to leave,” she said pointedly, “but usually couples kiss as soon as they see it.”

Hansol bit his lip. What was he supposed to do here? Kissing under the mistletoe is one of the most basic of traditions, and it’s not like he didn’t  _want_  to kiss Seungkwan, because who could say no to those adorable, pouty, pink lips. Oh, he thought about those lips a lot. But it felt new, and it felt invasive, and so he kept those thoughts to himself. And at the same time, what did Seungkwan want? At that moment, he couldn’t actually tell, because Seungkwan looked about ten times as confused as him.

Yebin relaxed her expression. “I won’t pressure you. A quick peck? I won’t even look if you don’t want me to. Or you don’t even have to. You can leave if you want.”

Seungkwan hesitated before turning to face Hansol. There were a million different emotions hidden behind those eyes right now. Hansol gulped.

The older boy’s voice was not more than a soft breath as he asked, “do you mind?”

Hansol shook his head lightly. That’s it. No going back.

Seungkwan let out a breath before taking a step forward. There was less than an inch between the two of them.

“Just a quick peck,” Seungkwan whispered, his eyes fluttering shut.

Hansol’s heart was beating so hard he was afraid the entire town would be able to feel it. All the other sounds in the diner had seemed to cease. It felt like there was no one else here except the boy in front of him. Boo Seungkwan, with his eyes closed, his lips slightly parted, his cheeks completely flushed.

And then his eyes were closing, and the both of them were leaning forward slowly, millimeters closing in, only moments away and then–

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, YEBIN!”

The two of them were startled back into reality, and the waitress, who had been pretending not to be watching them, lifted her head to stare at the girl who had just burst in through the entrance screaming in full Santa costume – fake sleigh and reindeer included.

“Minkyeong, what the fuck?”

The girl in the Santa costume – Minkyeong – stared at Yebin, in confusion. “What? What did I do?”

Yebin rolled her eyes. “We’ll talk about this later,” she said with an sharp smile, pulling the other girl behind the counter, then turned to Hansol and Seungkwan and quickly whispered “sorry about that.”

Seungkwan, wide-eyed and still half in shock, replied with a short “yeah, no problem” before leaving immediately.

Hansol returned the smile and followed Seungkwan, back out into the snow-white afternoon.

Seungkwan didn’t say anything as they got into the car, or as they began driving down the snowy roads.

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes.

“Seungkwan,” Hansol began, but was cut off by the other.

“I know you’re going to apologize, Hansol. Don’t. This is equally my fault.”

“It’s not-”

“No takebacks either. How about we put on some nice music and go on as usual, huh?”

Hansol took a quick glance at the boy next to him. There he was: Boo Seungkwan, slightly flustered, plump pink cheeks, and staring at Hansol as if he meant the world to him.  _Oh, Merlin._

“That’s a great idea,” Hansol said, and he leaned forward to switch on the radio.

 

_♫ Have a holly jolly Christmas_

_And in case you didn't hear_

_Oh, by golly, have a holly jolly Christmas_

_This year_ _♫_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone's having a wonderful christmas and holiday time!! consider this chapter my gift to you :)
> 
> i don't want to reopen wounds, but jonghyun's passing affected me so deeply this past week, and i had multiple breakdowns and anxiety attacks and felt so horrible, but i found a strength in doing what i love and expressing myself and my emotions through words, and somehow powered through it. you guys really mean so much to me, and it amazes me that there are actually people that enjoy what i write, so thank you a million times. i couldn't be doing this without you.
> 
> if anyone's been feeling down lately, please do take care of yourselves. give yourself time to relax and breathe for a moment. treat yourselves to something nice, eat some cake, binge your favorite shows, read a good book. tis the season, of course. ♡ 
> 
> the next chapter is scheduled to come out next week, but if i find myself too busy, it might have to be delayed. also i try my best to respond to comments, but in case i forget to reply to yours, sorry in advance!
> 
> i love you all so much! happy holidays!!


	17. Frustrations, Congratulations, and Revelations

Jeonghan put a finger to his lips, warning Seungcheol to stay low behind the kitchen counter. He slipped his lighter back into his pocket. They heard the front door open from down the hallway, followed by a pair of soft footsteps and a bag dropping onto the floor.

"Anyone home?" Joshua called out. There was no answer back, and Joshua let out a loud sigh. Jeonghan had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

The footsteps got louder as Joshua neared the kitchen, and as soon as the hinge of the door squeaked open, Jeonghan and Seungcheol simultaneously shot up, releasing dozens of balloons and popping colorful sprinklers and letting unfold a giant banner that read in colorful letters "Happy Birthday Joshua!"

"Holy fuck!" Joshua screeched as a ball of confetti exploded in his face.

"So the word 'fuck'  _is_  in your vocabulary," Seungcheol laughed.

"What's all of this?" Joshua asked incredulously, staring around him. The kitchen and den had been transformed into a mini birthday party. Streamers in blue and gold hung were strung across the ceiling and tied to lamps and curtain rods. Garlands of pennants were stretched over the entryways, intertwined with twinkling fairy lights. The main attraction was the cake, covered in sugar roses and chocolate strawberries, which Jeonghan revealed as he brought it out from under the counter.

"It's for you," he said with a smile.

"Oh, Jeonghan," Joshua breathed out, unable to stop smiling, "you really shouldn't have."

"Seungcheol baked it," Jeonghan explained, setting it atop the counter.

"It's so beautiful," Joshua said, his voice quiet and shaking but in the most excited kind of way. Seungcheol went up to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"We thought you might enjoy a quiet birthday," Seungcheol said, wrapping an arm around the other's shoulder. "Especially tonight being New Year's and all."

"It's... so perfect," Joshua said, leaning forward and attempting to pick a cherry off the cake and getting his hand swatted away by Jeonghan.

"Make a wish and blow out the candles," the long-haired witch scolded playfully, pushing the cake across the granite.

Joshua smiled bashfully, his eyes flitting down to his name written in shimmery icing across the top. "Why wish for anything when everything I want is right here with me?"

"You cheesy shit, Josh!" Jeonghan squealed.

"You're not going to wish for anything?" Seungcheol asked. There was a piece of confetti still in his hair. "It's the easiest kind of candle magic, you know."

"If you insist," Joshua said with a soft smile, and leaned over the candles with his eyes closed for a moment before blowing them all out.

"Are you going to tell us what you wished for?" Jeonghan waved the thin wisps of remaining smoke away.

"He's not supposed to," Seungcheol reminded, "or it won't come true."

"Is that another rule of candle magic?" Jeonghan snorted.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes, the hint of a smile edging at the corner of his lips. "We'll do our birthday ritual later," he said, turning to Joshua, "the one you enjoy with the honey wax candles, and then we'll give you your presents after."

"Presents?" Joshua asked in amazement. "You guys did all of this for me  _and_  got me presents?"

"Only the very best for our gentleman," Jeonghan said, tipping an imaginary hat.

"I love you guys so much," Joshua said, raising a hand to his mouth to hide his shaky smile.

"Oh, Josh, we love you too," Seungcheol said, moving to give the witch a hug but being beaten to it by Jeonghan, who scuttled around the counter to envelope them both into one massive embrace.

◇

_03:48 AM_

_(coups has joined the chat)_

**Coups:** Coven meeting this Wednesday. Let me know if you can make it.

 **Jhan:** got it

 **Coups:** Jeonghan, we literally live in the same house. That was unnecessary.

 **Coups:** Also what's with the new ID? I thought your last one was Mom.

 **Cheonsa:** there i changed it agan

 **Cheonsa:** *again

 **Coups:** No one's going to be able to keep track of your IDs, Jeonghan

 **Cheonsa:** who even canes lol

 **Cheonsa:** *cares

 **Jihoon:** I'll be there.

 **DK:** me too!

 **DK:** hosh said to say he'll be there too

 **Moon_Jun:** I'll be able to make it

 **Gyu:** I'll be there but I'll be late!!

 **Coups:** I'm honestly concerned by the number of people that responded considering the current time.

 **Moon_Jun:**  My notification sound is a recording of Minghao screaming so I'd be concerned if I didn't wake up

 **Tiny8:** rude

 **Tiny8:** also i'll join

 **DK:** @coups you were awake too though?

 **Coups:** Doesn't matter! Go to sleep, kids!

 **Hansolie:** @moon_junwhy is your notif sound minghao screaming

 **Hansolie:** also can you send it to me

 **BabyDino:** Don't call us kids!!

 **Cheonsa:** chan ur literally six go to bed its past ur bedtime

 **AdultDino:** YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO

 **Cheonsa:** whatever lol im going back to bed

 **Wonu:** I can't believe I woke up at four for this nonsense

 **Gyu:** WONWOOOOOOOOOOOOO ♡♡♡♡♡♡

 **Wonu:** hey gyu

 **Gyu:** ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

 **Jihoon:** Ew

 **Moon_Jun:** No PDA in the group chat either, thanks

 **Gyu:** HOW DARE

 **Moon_Jun:** Turn your caps lock off dude

 **Gyu:** ITS FOR DRAMATIC AFFECT

 **Coups:** You guys are so annoying, why are we all even friends?

 **Cheonsa: i** when are you gays gonna shyt up

 **Jihoon:** When you stop making spelling mistakes.

 **Jihoon:** As in they're never going to shut up.

 **Cheonsa:**  i meant to spell guys i swear my finger slpped

 **Cheonsa:** ***SLIPPED

 **Tiny8:** the letter A is nowhere near U on the keyboard though...

 **Cheonsa:** you accusing me of smth huh?

 **Coups:** Just go back to sleep, Jeonghan.

 **Coups:** Everyone else too, honestly.

 **AdultDino:** Don't tell us what to do!!

 **Moon_Jun:** I'm surprised Hoshi isn't here

 **Moon_Jun:** @DK Where's Hosh?

 **DK:** asleep next to me

 **DK:** he's so boring

 **Gyu:** oooooh why you two in bed together??

 **DK:** we just had a sleepover ?

 **Tiny8:** i love how innocent you are, seokmin

 **DK:** what? why?

 **Coups:** Go to sleep! Be normal like Hoshi!

 **AdultDino:** NEVERRRRRR

 **AdultDino:** Hey who wants to see an ugly picture of cheol

(AdultDino has sent an attachment)

 **Cheonsa:** OMG SI THAT RLLY U CHEOL

 **Cheonsa:** why do u even look like that

 **Tiny8:** wow nice face

 **Gyu:** HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA

**Coups: .........**

(coups has left the group chat)

 

◇

 

The tiny bells above the front door jingled as Chan skipped into the shop. He had been frequenting the shop a lot more recently, especially since he'd noticed Hansol had been spending a lot more time by himself in there. Chan wasn't sure what had happened, but he figured he could get a little more intel by being in there too.

"Good afternoon, Hansol!" he waved, letting the door swing shut behind him.

Hansol turned away quickly from the customer he was talking with to wave back. "I'll be with you in a moment," he added.

Chan shook his head. "Take your time. I'll be here with Kiki."

Hansol nodded and turned back to the customer, who had been asking something about the differences between the charm bags he sold. Chan couldn't have cared less about handmade charm bags; green witches like himself preferred natural magic.

Chan sat himself on the couch and looked down at Kiki, who was winding and rubbing herself around his legs lovingly.

"Hey there, Kiki," Chan greeted quietly. He wasn't sure if the customer in the room with them was a witch or knew about witches like him who had animal and plant magic, and it would have been weird to see a random person walk into a shop and start talking to the owner's cat.

Kiki purred and leapt up to sit herself on his lap. He smiled and stroked her fur softly.

"How's Hansol been doing?" he asked kindly.

Kiki twitched her nose.

"Not so well?" Chan said in surprise. "What's wrong?"

She purred again.

"Seungkwan? Did he do something?"

She meowed softly.

"It's been awkward? I've noticed Hansol's been spending more time alone but I didn't think it was because of them," Chan said, leaning back onto the couch.

Kiki narrowed her eyes at him.

"Right, right. Humans are stupid and don't notice everything as well as cats."

She purred and stretched herself out again.

"Do you know anything about it?"

Another quiet meow.

"Not yet? Do you think you can find out?"

"Find out what?" a new voice asked.

Chan looked up and saw Hansol standing in front of him looking amused. The customer must have left without him noticing.

"Oh," Chan stuttered, "nothing?"

Kiki meowed.

"Have you been talking to her?" Hansol asked.

"...no?"

"Kiki! Why would you betray me like this?" he asked dramatically, letting himself fall onto the couch next to them.

"It wasn't anything evil!" Chan protested, hugging Kiki tightly to his chest so they could both give Hansol a pleading look.

"What do you even talk to a cat about?" Hansol asked, shaking his head.

"A lot of things," Chan shrugged. "Cats know a lot. She was telling me about this bird she saw next to your bedroom window yesterday that stole one of the leaves off your white licorice plant. And also about how you need to give her more food."

"She's already eating  _my_ food, she doesn't need more," Hansol said with a jaded laugh, and then tilted his head back and placed a hand over his eyes and forehead.

"Tired?" Chan asked sympathetically.

"Stressed," Hansol replied.

"You can always talk about it to me if you want," Chan offered. Kiki meowed. "Okay, you can talk to  _us._ "

"I don't know if you'll understand," Hansol said, looking back at Chan.

"Give it a try. I know I'm the youngest in our friend group so no one expects me to be overly authoritative, but I'm not actually a child. I deal with problems too. "

Hansol nodded understandingly. "Alright, I guess I could try. It's a bit complicated, but... say if you were friends with someone, and you somehow developed feelings for them, and you think they have feelings for you too, but you could be completely wrong about it, even though you almost kissed, even if it was a forced situation, and you're afraid to mess something up because you love how life is right now and-"

"Merlin, Hansol, slow down," Chan laughed. "You're rambling."

"Right. Sorry. Do you understand me though?"

Chan hummed a yes, then bluntly added, "Is this about Seungkwan?"

Hansol's eyes widened.

"It's alright," Chan reassured. "We know."

"We?"

"Kiki and I."

"She told you?"

"Yeah, I made up the bird story."

"Fair enough."

There was a brief pause, interrupted by a meow.

Chan looked down at Kiki. "Last time I was here, she told me how happy you look every time you see Seungkwan come through those doors."

Hansol looked over at Chan, a hint of surprise appearing in his exhausted eyes. "She did?"

Chan nodded. "If he makes you happy, I think you have nothing to lose by asking him about his feelings."

"But what if I've been imagining his feelings towards me?"

"From what Kiki's told me, Seungkwan's just as happy around you. I highly doubt anything could go wrong."

"Kiki tells you a lot," Hansol laughed. "I'm going to have to keep you two apart the next time you come over."

"Don't you dare!" Chan protested playfully.

"Seriously though, thank you."

Chan smiled. "This coven's a family. I'm sure any of us would have been willing to listen. Including Seungkwan."

"So will you listen to me when I ask for Kiki back?"

"Never. You'll have to fight me for her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been so tired and i'm really afraid it shows in my writing hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
> 
> this chapter's a bit of a new year's gift ? and the next chapter is a little something for seungkwan's birthday and guess what? THERE'S ACTUAL PLOT!!!! THE FILLER TRAIN HAS REACHED THE STATION CHOO CHOO AND WE'RE FINALLY REACHING THE CLIMAX IM SO EXCITED I HOPE YOU ARE TOO !!!!
> 
> this author's note contains 12 different emotions i apologize, its because im tired i swear
> 
> happy new year, bbies ♡


	18. Psychiatrists for Desperate People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> even as an early chapter for seungkwan's birthday, this chapter starts off light and ends up angsty. if you’re trying to avoid anything that isn’t just pure 100% fluff, i’d say this one right here. no actual nsfw content or anything that needs trigger warnings , as far as i can tell (though you guys can let me know for following or previous chapters if i miss anything)

“This is too much for me to emotionally handle,” Seungkwan said, and then promptly grabbed a bottle of beer out of Wonwoo’s hand.

Seungkwan’s birthday falling on a weekend was the perfect chance for the coven to throw him a surprise birthday party at their local bar. All of the coven was old enough to join at that point (including Chan, though everyone had vowed to try their best to stop him from getting drunk), and Jun knew the owner well enough to ask that they keep the crowd from getting too crazy that night so the coven could have most of the bar to themselves.

There were already a lot of people when they arrived, some in smaller groups in private booths and around the cocktail bar, and most others scattered around the dance floor. The coven had dragged Seungkwan in blindfolded, much to his protests. Only once they had pulled away the covering and hollered ‘Happy Birthday!’ did he finally stop grumbling to start screaming in joy.

“I love you guys so much,” Seungkwan sobbed, pulling the two people nearest to him – Wonwoo and Joshua – into a hug.

“We brought you to a bar because we though you’d enjoy getting drunk and singing loudly,” Jihoon said, handing Seungkwan a small bag.

“Getting drunk and singing loudly, my two favorite things,” Seungkwan said, taking a peek into the bag. “Is this a gift?”

Jihoon nodded. “Don’t you dare make a big deal out of it.”

“Are you kidding? Thank you so much!” Seungkwan said, almost throwing himself atop the smaller witch in happiness. Jihoon let himself smile a little at the younger’s antics.

“Happy birthday, magus,” Seungcheol said as he came over to Seungkwan. “I wanted to say congratulations about getting better at physical projection too.”

“Is that what magus means?” Seungkwan asked.

Seungcheol nodded. “You’re really one of us.”

Seungkwan let out an involuntary sniffle. “Thank you, Cheol.”

He looked around at the twelve other witches around him, immensely grateful for all of them and whatever would happen tonight.

His eyes landed briefly on Hansol, who gave him a shy smile and looked away before Seungkwan could return it.

“Time to get drunk!” Jeonghan’s loud voice called out from behind him, followed by an arm slung over both his and Seungcheol’s shoulder.

“ _Jeonghan-,_ ” Seungcheol started but was immediately interrupted.

“None of that now,” Jeonghan cooed. “It’s Seungkwan’s birthday so we’re all getting drunk. Take this, Kwan.”

Seungkwan accepted a second bottle of beer with his free hand and grinned.

 

 

Jeonghan, the first to initiate, was also the first to get completely shitfaced. A record of 15 minutes, which the other members found concerning since he wasn’t a lightweight.

“It’s too bright in heeeeeere,” he slurred, gesturing vaguely around him at the bar he was sitting at. Indeed the overhead lights were intense, and the fluorescent blue from behind the glass drink shelf was vivid enough to cast a hue of turquoise over everyone at the rounded bar, but it was more due to the fact that his senses were already distorting strangely. “We need another round of shots.”

“We need more shots, not you,” Hoshi said as he called the bartender over to order.

“Don’t you dare order more tequila shots,” Seokmin said, slumped onto Hoshi’s side lazily. “I already feel like death.”

“You’re such a lightweight, Seok,” Hoshi said, shaking his head. “Also I’m totally getting tequila shots.”

“Where’s the birthday kid?” Joshua said, pulling up a stool in between them. Minghao had snuck in an elixir for him since he didn’t drink alchohol, and he had managed to disguise it in one of the glasses he snatched off a rack.

“Somewhere at the other end of the room dancing probably,” Chan said, following Josh and seating himself at the bar. “And I need something other than this mocktail.”

“You are NOT getting drunk,” Jeonghan said loudly and tipping his chair dangerously to lean over Hoshi, who attempted to put him back in his chair.

“You’re not my mom!” Chan yelled back. “I’m getting drunk if I want to!”

“Chan,” Joshua said calmly, “he’s drunk out of his mind and not going to remember any of this. Get drunk if you want.”

“Don’t you dare,” Jeonghan protested.

“Cheonsa, seriously,” Joshua retorted. “Just let him.”

“Fine, but if the boy turns into an alcoholic, it’s on you.”

“I’m going to go join Seungkwan on the dance floor,” Seokmin said, pushing himself off his stool. “I need to get some adrenaline flowing again.”

“Good call,” Hoshi said. “I thought you were about to fall asleep there. But if you’re going, I’m going too.”

“What about the drinks?” Seokmin asked.

“Chan can have them if he really wants to get shitfaced. Or Jeonghan might steal them first, whatever.”

Jeonghan and Chan simultaneously turned to give each other a competitive look. Joshua sighed.

 

 

On the other side of the room, the Seungkwan was lost in the noise and energy of the dance floor, swinging his hips to some song next to someone he hoped was one of his friends. He could feel the speakers in each beat in his chest, the bass ringing in his ears. A half empty bottle of something was in his hand. His unfocused eyes recognized occasional flashes of colors; blue, pink, yellow, orange, green, blue, pink. His mind was almost completely empty, give for one thing.

 

Hansol had decided to stay away from the dance floor. The flashing lights and loud music was too much of a sensory overload for him, and being constantly surrounded by and bumping into people gave him too much anxiety to enjoy dancing. Instead, he found himself wandering around the other end of the building, an untouched mojito in his hand.

The lights were dimmer here, coming from small lamps attached to the exposed brick wall. People were crowded into smaller groups, stuffed into booths or around table soccer games, chattering and laughing loudly as they passed around whiskey glasses and beer bottles. The music from the dance floor sounded filtered from the distance, so a pair of speakers had been set up in the back, playing what sounded like an indie rap song.

Hansol didn’t fit in here either, but the noise of the dance floor worried him, so he wandered around for a bit. He figured the alcohol in the drink he had with him might have eased his nerves, but he couldn’t bring himself to take a sip.

“Hey, kid,” someone said from near him. Hansol turned around and saw a guy looking at him from one of the tables. Pierced ears and dark eyes stuck out from under unkempt, black hair. A girl (pink hair similar to Seungkwan’s, he noted) was leaning on him, a cigarette in between her fingers. Hansol doubted smoking was allowed in here, but decided to overlook the fact. They both looked a few years older than him, maybe a few years over Seungcheol as well. A few other people with a similar atmosphere to them were also gathered around the table, but too involved in the card game they were playing to pay any attention to Hansol.

Hansol didn’t reply immediately to the greeting, purely out of surprise towards a stranger talking to him, but he didn’t have to.

“You seem lost,” the guy said casually. The girl let out a chuckle and took a whiff off her cigarette.

“I’m not,” Hansol said, his voice faltering on the second syllable. He cursed silently to himself.

“Not out here,” the guy said, gesturing at their surroundings. “In there.” He tapped the side of his head.

Hansol didn’t respond.

“Come sit,” the girl said, using her pointer finger to direct him towards the table. “I’m sure our friends won’t mind.”

Hansol knew he shouldn’t have, but he found his feet leading him towards the empty chair next to them.

“You don’t seem like the type who would come to this place on your own,” the guy said, giving Hansol a once-over and making him feel self-conscious. “You must be here with friends. A special night?”

“A birthday,” Hansol replied shortly.

“Same person who’s got you down?” he asked. Hansol gave him a confused look, and he laughed. “I could tell immediately when I saw your expression as you were wandering around. Lovesick. Lost. What’s their deal?”

“Don’t pressure him to tell!” the girl scolded him, and then turned to Hansol. He could smell the smoke on her. “Honestly, I recognized the look too, but as much as talking will help, you might be a bit too weirded out to talk to us right now.”

“It’s not that…” Hansol admitted, because as weird as it was for two strangers to be asking him about his love life, he found a strange sense of security in them. Their smiles were genuine, and their eyes – especially the girl’s – were kind.

“Yeah, we aren’t exactly psychiatrists,” the guy said. “But you just seem like you need advice.”

“I got advice,” Hansol said, remembering his talk with Chan the previous week. “I just can’t use it yet.”

“Were you planning on telling him how you feel?” the girl chimed in.

“If I could stop worrying for a moment, then maybe.”

“Okay then, I’ve got a stupid idea for you,” the guy said.

Hansol looked at him curiously.

“Don’t you dare,” the girl groaned. “Kid, if I could give you some of my own advice, it’s to only take his advice seriously if you’re desperate.”

“Well, how’s this?” the guy said, a smile tugging at his cheeks. “If it’s his birthday, then he’s definitely drunk out of his mind right now.  _And_  I’ll place my bets on him being the type of drunk to talk too much. Tell him how you feel, no sitting on the fence. If he feels the same, he’ll admit it. If he doesn’t, he won’t remember that you asked him by the morning, and you can dump your feelings in the trash.”

“Are you joking?” the girl said, rolling her eyes. “You’ll let him be heartbroken like that?”

“No,” he replied flatly. “Because he’s not going to get rejected.”

“Okay,  _know-it-all_ ,” she mocked.

“It’s a good plan, no?” the guy said to Hansol, who was still too befuddled to respond.

“Like I said,” the girl interjected, “you don’t have to follow his advice unless your desperate. But chances are, things will work out. I’m pretty sure both of us sensed it as soon as we saw you.”

“Want to go fulfill your destiny now?” the guy asked. “Maybe take a sip of your drink. It might calm you down.”

Hansol nodded, took a quick sip of his drink and winced at the taste before deciding to leave.

“You’ll do good, kid,” the girl called to Hansol. He gave her a grateful smile, and returned a quick wave to the guy.

As they watched him head towards the dance floor, the girl turned to the guy. “Were you not going to tell him about us?”

“You called me a know-it-all,” he replied, his eyes following Hansol’s dirty blond head of hair into the crowd. “If he didn’t guess I was clairvoyant, that’s on him. Besides, he’ll be fine anyway. You said you saw it.”

“I did,” she said, allowing herself to give him a soft smile. “He’ll be perfectly fine.”

 

 

Hansol didn’t need to scour the dance floor for Seungkwan, because the latter found him at one of the booths by himself. The single sip had obviously done nothing to calm his nerves, and so the chaos of the dance floor continued to scare him into avoiding it.

“Hansoliiiiiiie,” Seungkwan’s voice slurred as he slid into the booth. Hansol could smell alcohol and something sweet on him. “Where did you go? You never said ‘happy birthday’.

What Hansol wanted to say was, “Because I’m afraid to confront my feelings and I’m afraid you’ll turn on me if I mess up say something stupid so I never say anything to you.”

What he actually said was, “Sorry about that.”

Seungkwan grinned. “It’s okay. I know you wanted to.”

Hansol nodded. Seungkwan had pulled himself up close to Hansol, and he was getting nervous again.

“I’m kind of sleepy,” Seungkwan continued, obviously not having any sort of control over his speech. “I want to dance, but I also want to sleep.”

“Do you want to go home already?” Hansol asked cautiously.

“Maybe,” Seungkwan said, resting his head on Hansol’s shoulder and smiling peacefully.

“I can take you home if you want,” Hansol said after a moment’s thought, even though the idea of what could happen or what careless things he could say if they were alone together terrified him. How funny it was that a couple of weeks ago, spending time by themselves was what made him happiest, and now he dreaded it so much.

“But we just met,  _silly,_ ” Seungkwan laughed, appearing to have forgotten Hansol’s identity briefly. “You’d have to buy me a drink before taking me home.”

Hansol felt a heat crawl up from the sides of his face and settle in his cheeks. “If you’re feeling tired, let me know.”

“Okay,” Seungkwan said happily, and then added less than a moment later, “I’m sleepy now.”

“Want to go home?”

“Yes, please.”

 

 

It took a bit of effort for Hansol to find Seungcheol, then find a cab, and then find Seungkwan’s apartment, all while dragging said witch along next to him.

“Where are your keys?” Hansol asked as they reached Seungkwan’s front door. He found for the first time that Seungkwan lived on the third floor of a tiny six-story complex slightly north off city center. While the outside of the building was exposed brick and pipes and gray concrete, the inside was surprisingly well-furnished and homey.

“I don’t know,” Seungkwan said, rubbing his at his eye. Hansol sighed and fished through the other’s coat pockets until he found them, and then opened the door himself.

The inside of Seungkwan’s apartment was an interesting mix of retro shapes and modern sleek styles, and completely covered in clutter and stray snacks. Hansol had to step over a few stray t-shirts before finding Seungkwan’s bedroom, which was tucked away behind a hallway.

“There you go,” Hansol said, allowing Seungkwan to stumble past him and throw himself onto the bed dramatically.

Seungkwan rolled over onto his back to look at Hansol standing in the hallway. “Now that I’m here, I want to dance again.”

“You’re drunk, Kwan.”

Seungkwan snorted. “Fine, I’m sleepy anyway. Aren’t you sleepy too?”

“This is your bed,” Hansol said, somewhat amused. “You should go to sleep.”

“But it’s so late, you need to sleep too,” Seungkwan chattered. “Come sleep here.”

“I think I’d rather go home,” Hansol said.

“Help me sleep first then. Before you go.”

Hansol watched as Seungkwan shifted himself up to the headboard so he could lean himself up on his pillows and pout at him. Hansol felt his heart flutter; even with all these mixed signals, he still felt so provoked.

He sat himself at the opposite end of Seungkwan’s bed, so the older pulled him closer until they were right next to each other and could lean his head on Hansol’s shoulder once more.

“Is it still my birthday?” he asked quietly.

Hansol looked over at the clock on his bedside table. “Not anymore.”

“Okay.”

Hansol felt Seungkwan relax a little next to him, though he couldn’t say the same for himself.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Hansol turned his head to look at Seungkwan without moving too much that it would push him off his shoulder. Seungkwan was already looking up at him.

“That was the second-best birthday I’ve ever had.”

“Not the first-best?”

Seungkwan shook his head softly. “I thought it was first-best, but then I thought it was second-best.”

“What made you think that?”

“I don’t remember.”

Hansol nodded gently. Seungkwan sighed.

“Can I tell you another secret?”

“If you want to.”

“I actually do remember why.”

“And what was it?”

“I started feeling like something big was missing. Like the cherry on top of my birthday cake, but bigger.”

Hansol hoped Seungkwan couldn’t feel his nervous heartbeat right then.

“Can I tell you another secret?”

“Another?”

“Yeah.”

“Go ahead.”

Seungkwan wrapped an arm around Hansol’s so he could snuggle up to him more comfortably.

“There was this cute guy at the bar I saw.”

“…Really?” Hansol heard his voice crack.

“Yeah, I don’t remember who he was, but he was cute. I kept wishing I could go up and say something to him but he kept disappearing. I saw him right before we left but I don’t remember anything else and now we’re here and I don’t remember him again.”

Hansol couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Something heavy had formed in his throat, and it was making him uneasy.

Seungkwan tilted his head upwards to look at him again. “You’re cute too, I think. Maybe I should get your name so I don’t lose you like I lost him.”

“You know me, Kwan,” Hansol said quietly, but he felt like at this point he didn’t know himself either.

“No, I don’t,” Seungkwan protested pointlessly. “We just met, I think.”

“I have to go,” Hansol said. His voice was almost a whisper then.

“Already?” Seungkwan whined. “But we just met.”

Hansol didn’t reply. His answer wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

“I’ll miss you, stranger,” Seungkwan said, giving him a quick wave.

“Get some rest.”

“Okay.”

Hansol managed to get one more look at the other witch before closing Seungkwan’s bedroom door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: whats that I see??? actual plot????? almost 3000 words????? INCREDIBLE
> 
> listen, im not going to apologize, i need shit to start going in the direction i’ve planned so you’re gonna take the weird angst and deal with it (i know im not great at writing angst lmao, this is the longest i’ve ever gone with any project i’ve written so i usually don’t reach this close to the climax TT)
> 
> but i will apologize for not responding to too many (or any?) comments on my last chapter, i usually love replying because of how much joy your comments give me but like i explained, i was super tired and never got a chance to, so i hope you can forgive me
> 
> next chapter 27-01 if i don't forget :)


	19. Broken Heater, Broken Heart (sort of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm uploading this chapter a day early since i'll be busy this weekend and can't upload it friday/saturday night as i normally would, which i hope is alright
> 
> more angst up ahead
> 
> (also I have to apologize for being misleading in a previous author’s note where I said the conflict won’t be relationship based, and it still really isn’t completely, but the angst would say otherwise, so just letting you guys know about that)

Seungkwan didn’t show up at the next coven meeting, or the one after that.

The empty spot beside Hansol didn’t go unnoticed.

Chan had given him a questioning look once, but besides that, the others hadn’t said much.

Hansol was afraid he had fucked up somehow. He didn’t know how, but he couldn’t think of any other reason besides that.

Joshua had been the first to mention it late one evening after a meeting. It was a full moon night, and the ritual had taken them hours. Hansol had arrived halfway through setting up the altar for the Esbat, and then followed as they went through the regular details: purifying the circle, singing the spells, and then passing around a chalice of wine and plates of shortbread. Usually full moon rituals, though tiring, were Hansol’s favorite because of how peaceful they were, but he had found it hard to enjoy that night.

By midnight, it was over, and the others had dispersed slightly, and the few who were left in the den were having quiet conversations to themselves, not paying much attention to Hansol or Joshua as one approached the other.

“Hey,” the older said in his usual soft manner. It always put a sense of comfort into Hansol's mind. “How was the Esbat?”

“It was good,” Hansol replied, trying his best to put on a reassuring face.

“Yeah, I’m glad Seungcheol picked me to lead the binding spells tonight. He did a decent job handing out tasks to everyone, even with one person missing.”

Hansol winced involuntarily, which Joshua noticed but pretended not to. Instead he asked, “You doing alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Hansol said, though he knew that Joshua could tell it was a lie.

“If you insist,” Joshua replied nonchalantly. “Were you heading back to the shop now?”

“I guess so, yeah.”

“Do you mind if I join you? I’m heading the same way.”

Hansol didn’t think he’d want to ask why Joshua needed to go to that side of town in the middle of the night, especially considering he lived with Seungcheol here in the covenstead.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind the company,” Hansol smiled.

The air was chilly as they made their trip down to Hansol’s shop, but there was no harsh wind, and so the night was quiet.

“I attempted an invisibility charm yesterday,” Joshua said, making light conversation, “but I mispronounced the word  _mote_  and then no one recognized me the rest of the day. I don’t know which witch thought it was a good idea to use the word  _mote_  in a spell. Maybe I’ll just leave the obscurity to Soonyoung. It was a bit weird watching your best friends try and figure out what you’re doing in their house because you look like a complete stranger to them.”

Hansol gave Joshua a polite laugh, but his mind had immediately wandered to the night at Seungkwan’s house, where he had seemed to forget who Hansol was. He had tried to convince himself that it was only because he was intoxicated, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around how Seungkwan had avoided him earlier that day but then clung onto him the entire night.

“Hansol,” Joshua said, giving Hansol a concerned look. “Are you sure you’re doing alright?”

“Yeah,” Hansol replied, “why?”

“You just seemed a bit tired today. You almost forgot your lines during the ritual for a moment.  _On the altar tonight I lay, all of my cares and woes_ – ”

“ _Tonight I become one with the light, and let all my burdens go,”_ Hansol ended. “I remembered them.”

“You were just distracted,” Joshua acknowledged. “You got the right lines though.”

“Is Seungcheol upset? That I nearly messed up?” Hansol asked.

“Of course not,” Joshua said. “He understands when stuff like this happens.”

“He knows what happened?” Hansol asked carefully.

“He can tell.”

“And so can you?”

“I didn’t read your mind, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s a bit creepy to do that without permission.”

“Do people normally give you permission to read their minds?”

“You got me there,” Joshua laughed softly. “Yeah, actually, Jihoon actually asked me to ask you.”

“Jihoon?”

Joshua nodded. “His clairvoyance grows stronger around this time every month. Like a werewolf, or something. I think he felt like it’d be awkward if he asked you himself, so he asked me to.”

“That’s really nice of him,” Hansol said.

“Jihoon’s a sweet guy. I think he just finds it hard to show affection.”

“Thank him later for me. But yeah… it’s just that stuff got messed up again and I lost my footing somewhere along the line. I don’t know what I did.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Joshua reassured. “You have to stop thinking this is your fault. When signal lines get disrupted, the message comes out weird, but you don’t blame yourself for sending the wrong messages.”

“It couldn’t just be neither of our faults,” Hansol protested.

“But it could,” Joshua interjected. “Stuff gets messed up. It doesn’t mean either of you forced it into happening. Just give him space.”

“But…” Hansol said, his voice growing quiet, “I just need to know if he’s okay.”

Joshua looked back at Seungcheol, who was still distracted. He turned to Hansol. “We weren’t going to mention it because admittedly it’s a tiny bit creepy, but earlier today Cheol asked Jun to check on Seungkwan – astral projection, as he does – and as far as he can tell, Seungkwan's doing fine.”

Joshua watched as Hansol’s eyes lit up for a quick moment, barely noticeable.

“He is?”

"Not the greatest state, obviously. But nothing's happened."

Something heavy grew in Hansol's throat, and he swallowed it down.

“These things take time," Joshua continued. "And they almost always work out in the end.”

“But what if this one doesn’t? What if this one's the  _almost_?”

“It's not.”

"But how do you know?"

"We're witches, Hansol. We know."

They came to a stop as they reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to Hansol’s shop.

“What do I do now?” Hansol asked, turning to Joshua.

“Whatever you’d normally do. And try not to think about it much, you’ll get too worked up over it.”

Hansol frowned. “That’s a bit difficult, don't you think?”

Joshua thought for a moment. “If you’re really desperate, there’s always a spell for your situation. Healing potion. You know the ritual, I’m sure you do.”

“Is it necessary?”

“Not at all, but it’ll help.”

“Thanks, Josh. Seriously.”

“Anytime, Hansol.”

◇

 

Seungkwan tossed a soda can over his head and heard it fall somewhere behind the couch. He sighed and slumped back down on the pillows and wrapped the blanket around himself tighter. An empty takeout box fell onto the floor as he moved.

The old heating system in his apartment had been running too high for too long and had given up at one point with a loud cracking noise, and Seungkwan had let it be, not feeling up to fixing it. The cold might have been making him sick, but just like the heater, he didn’t care enough to do anything about it.

He hadn’t been feeling up to doing much lately. He hadn’t even left his couch to do anything productive in something close to a full day.

The curtains across the large windows that looked upon the city were only slightly pulled open, letting in enough sunlight in the daytime to see but enough for it to be almost pitch black at night.

Usually the only light source was his laptop screen, and occasionally his phone screen, and once in a while the light from the refrigerator.

This cycle of uselessness, as he had nicknamed it sometime in the past, wasn’t uncommon for him. Usually it’d come around in periods of his life where his mind was too overwhelmed to remind him to function normally.

Currently, most of his thoughts consisted of things he said, things he couldn’t remember saying, and things he wished he had said.

Eventually he knew the cycle would shift, and instead of spending too much time inside, he’d spend too much time outside, wandering around, still lost in his head, not going anywhere but going everywhere at the same time.

He wondered when things would change.

 

◇

 

Hansol let Kiki hop up onto the counter as the tea began to steep.

The tiniest pinch of sassafras. A pinch of rosemary. A teaspoon of honey.

A healing potion.

Kiki purred softly at Hansol. He smiled at her.

" _Healing potion make me whole._ ”

He poured a small dose into a teacup and slowly took a sip, allowing the herbs to take their effect.

“ _Take the pain, heal my soul._ "

He left the empty cup on the counter, the leftover tea leaves sitting peacefully at the bottom, illuminated by the single lit white candle next to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a week late?? AND a short chapter??? i'm a disgrace
> 
> it's hard to believe, but this chapter isn't actually filler. i needed to include this so the next chapter can have its full effect on you lovelies (apologies in advance)
> 
> i’m not sure if this counts as a spoiler so i’ll try to phrase it carefully but the next chapter will include a fairly violent description of a certain scene (i’ll put a warning at the beginning of the chapter and right before it happens so if anyone would like to avoid it, you totally can)


	20. Unexpected Thaumaturgy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoiler/warning: a violent scene with a few mentions of blood this chapter, but never too intense or graphic, you can skip over the scene in between the two dashes (-) if necessary

He was lost again.

This was becoming a recurring thing, and at this point, it was a bit laughable. It wasn’t even like this was a century old town with hidden routes and dangerous shortcuts; if anything, it was the opposite, with its perfectly branching streets and perfectly aligned homes. But somehow, Seungkwan always found himself making a wrong turn when he wasn’t paying enough attention on his way home from the convenience store, and somehow, it was always too dark or late at night for him to figure out where he was.

Tonight’s venue was another quiet byway, the back walls of a row of townhouses on his left and a fenced off road to his right. He could vaguely tell this was somewhere downtown. He was probably close enough to Hansol’s shop that he could project himself there if he wanted to, but he had a feeling Hansol wouldn’t have appreciated that. Not right now.

He wondered if Hansol missed him as much as he missed Hansol. It was a rather embarrassing thought, especially when he knew he was the one that had made things awkward between them. His friends had told him that Hansol would be alright if he would just say something to the other, but that whole experience would have been terrible to endure, and he didn’t know if it was worth it (but that small voice at the back of his head, if he was listening, would have told him that Hansol was always worth it).

He continued down the alley, his hands clumsily pulling his jacket tighter against him. Since getting lost wasn’t part of the original plan, he hadn’t thought to put on something warmer, and was now regretting that decision.

Occasionally a cloud would pass above him, floating by the waning moon, and he would have to walk a little faster until he was under the next streetlamp so he wouldn’t feel vulnerable in the dark spaces in between. He couldn’t ever remember being this afraid of the dark; that wasn’t really his thing.

There was a sudden rustle in a nearby corner that caused him to flinch violently and turn to see what it was. For a moment, all he saw was the exposed brick wall, and a light in a tiny window a few stories up flickered on, but nothing else. He shivered and turned away.

As he passed under another streetlight, he heard a second noise. Turning around carefully, he saw the source: a black cat striding out of the shadows, staring at him with its sharp eyes. He wondered for a moment if it was Kiki, but it couldn’t have been, not with the way it looked at him.

He watched as the cat turned and walked back into the dark corner, watching him from the corner of its eyes right before it disappeared again. Definitely not Kiki.

His phone suddenly vibrated from the inside of his pocket, reminding him it was there. Maybe he could have called someone to pick him up, but he had no way of knowing his exact location anyway ( _“Help, I’m lost! No, I don’t know where I am!)_. He slipped his hand into his jacket pocket anyway and pulled out his phone. It buzzed through his fingers again and the screen lit up, revealing a bubble that read  _14 unread messages from Seungcheol_ accompanied by a handful more from his other friends.

Before he could even wonder why his phone didn’t notify him of all of them or why they would even send him so many texts, he felt an unexpected sharp and heavy blow to the back of his head, and his phone slipped through his fingers and fell to the pavement at almost the same time as he did.

-

_“Seungkwan!”_

He felt a hand catch the back of his neck before he could hit the ground, and he could vaguely make out the figures of multiple people shouting and running.

_“Fucking hell, Hansol. Is he okay?”_

_“Don’t you dare touch him again, you evil shrew!”_

Seungkwan groaned, feeling a sharp pain in the back of his head from trying to concentrate on the voices. He instinctively reached a hand up to feel it, and his fingers came back stained red.

_“Fuck, he’s hurt! We need to get him back to the covenstead.”_

_“But Seungcheol–”_

_“He’s got backup, he’ll be fine. We need to get Seungkwan back. Now.”_

There was a familiar smell in the air, though Seungkwan’s head was too blurred to recognize it. The energy seemed familiar too, dark and cloudy. A strange sense of déjà vu passed over him.

Another sore shot of pain abruptly rushed through him, and he had to fight the urge to scream, though nothing could stop him from writhing and kicking around in agony the way he was.

_“She’s hurting him, we have to get out of here!”_

_“Do it as we taught you, quick.”_

Seungkwan felt the hand that was placed behind his neck travel down his arm and into his own hand, fingers interlocking naturally.

_“Sorry, Kwan. I hope this works.”_

Before he could even decipher whose voice that was or what was happening, his vision grew blurrier, his head grew light, and he finally blacked out.

-

Hansol watched Seungkwan’s chest rise and fall in even time as he laid surrounded by blankets on the couch, his closed eyes allowing his eyelashes to brush against his flushed cheeks peacefully. It would have been a scene he’d have been thankful to have experienced a few weeks ago, except he couldn’t now, not when Seungkwan was in the state he was in.

There was a gash across his forehead, and a dried red blemish running down the side of his face. There were a few more scratches across his arm, and an open cut that glowed ominously with dark magic on the back of his hand. Hansol’s heart hurt every time he looked at him, but he couldn’t look away.

They had managed to bring Seungkwan back safely to the covenstead before he could have gotten any more hurt. Seungcheol was still not back, however, and neither were Joshua, Minghao, or Jihoon. The others were here, crowded over Seungkwan and hoping he was alright.

“Make some space,” Seokmin’s quiet voice sounded as the tall witch entered through the doorway, carrying a large cloth bag and a few glass bottles. He shuffled over to the couch, the other witches surrounding it moving aside for him.

“Will he be okay?” Chan asked worriedly, leaning over the back of the couch so he could see what was happening.

“Damage from black magic is repairable,” Seokmin said, dosing a cotton swab with the liquid from one of the bottles. “These cuts seem pretty deep, though, probably from stronger magic. Might take a little longer, is all.”

“They look like ordinary cuts,” Jun remarked.

“Except for the one that’s glowing,” Mingyu pointed out. Wonwoo wrapped an arm around the taller witch’s shoulders comfortingly.

“They always look ordinary,” Seokmin explained. He gestured for Hoshi to help him wrap a few herbs into a plum colored cloth, and then tied it around Seungkwan’s arm. “But they feel way worse. And they can’t heal the same way. We’re lucky it wasn’t worse than it is.”

Hansol tore his eyes away from Seungkwan for a moment to glance over at Jeonghan, who was leaning against the side of the couch. A small crystal was floating in front of him, a few inches above his open palm, but his eyes were unfocused. It didn’t take a psychic to tell he was worried about Seungcheol and Joshua.

Seungkwan hummed a little, the sound coming from the back of his throat, bringing Hansol’s attention back to the witch. The couch creaked under his weight as he rolled over onto his side, his eyes slowly opening so he could get a decent look at everyone surrounding him.

“Careful,” Seokmin said gently. “Your arm might hurt.”

“Okay,” Seungkwan replied, his voice coming out more croaky than usual.

“How are you feeling?” Mingyu asked, bending over to sit cross-legged on the carpet.

“Like garbage,” Seungkwan replied with a scoff, then tilted his head to look around a little more. “What even happened while I was out?”

“You don’t remember?” Jun asked.

“Not really, except that everything hurt.”

Jeonghan snapped his fingers and let the crystal fall, then turned to look at Seungkwan. There was a dimness in his eyes. “It was Seungcheol’s half-sister again. She tried to hurt you. With black magic.”

“She did?” Seungkwan’s voice was quiet, scratchy.

Jeonghan nodded softly. “Mingyu got a vision of it barely a minute before it happened. We couldn’t get there in time before she hit you first. I’m sorry.”

Seungkwan’s forehead wrinkled slightly. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“Why not?” Jeonghan asked, sighing. “We could have stopped this from happening. We could have stopped her. And now they haven’t even gotten back and I don’t know what’s happening and–”

“Jeonghan,” Chan said, “they’re fine. Don’t stress out, I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

Jeonghan didn’t reply. Instead he picked up the crystal and tossed it across the room.

Seungkwan frowned. “Jeonghan, I don’t blame you. I didn’t even know what happened. You guys found me. And saved me.”

At that moment, there was a small cracking noise and Seungcheol appeared, Joshua, Minghao and Jihoon in tow. They were all covered in bruises, and the left side of their leader’s face was smudged in crimson.

Jeonghan was the first to react, jumping to his feet and running across the room to grab both Seungcheol and Joshua and squeezing them tightly in relief.

Seokmin gave Seungkwan a quick smile before collecting his things so he could tend to the others’ wounds.

“Is he alright?” Jihoon asked, stumbling over to the couch.

“I’m fine,” Seungkwan reassured, giving the other a weak smile.

“Well, obviously you’re not, but you will be soon,” Jihoon said, allowing himself to be pulled back by Seokmin so he could have a bandage wrapped around his leg.

Minghao shuffled over to the couch across from Seungkwan’s and threw himself down, breathing heavily.

“What happened?” Jun asked immediately, turning around so he could look at the casualties.

“She got away, but not before Seungcheol drained her power. There’s no way she’ll return.”

“Seungkwan,” Seungcheol said, coming over to where the other was. He sat on the floor facing Seungkwan, so they could both look at each other. “Listen, I’m so sorry this had to happen, I really am. I couldn’t have imagined her ever being this reckless, but that’s what black magic does to you. Will you believe me when I say it won’t happen ever again, or do you find it too dangerous here in the coven?”

“Of course I’ll believe you,” Seungkwan said, smiling gently. “You guys are the reason I’m here now. I wouldn’t ever want to leave.”

Seungcheol returned the smile. “It’ll take you a while to heal. Black magic scars don’t go away quick, but we’ll all try our best to make sure you’re safe, alright?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“For now, I think the best decision is for you to rest. I was thinking, Hansol,” Seungcheol said, turning to look at him, “do you think you could help keep an eye on Seungkwan? Just until he gets better.”

Hansol looked at Seungcheol, and then over at Seungkwan.

Seungkwan was already looking back at him.

His expression said everything.

“Of course. I’ll do everything I can.”

-

Hansol pushed open the door to his bedroom with his left hand, his right arm around Seungkwan’s shoulders.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine here?” he asked as Seungkwan stumbled towards the bed and fell across it.

“You  _let_  me stay,” Seungkwan burbled, pushing himself up to sit against the headboard, but then winced slightly.

“Are you okay?” Hansol asked, rushing over. “Does it hurt?”

“My neck’s just a bit sore,” Seungkwan said, changing his mind and pushing himself back down to lie flat.

“Seokmin said it’ll feel better in the morning,” Hansol said, arranging the pillows behind the other. “Do you need anything? More blankets? Should I turn up the heat?”

“Hansol, I’m fine. I promise. It’s always comfortable here.”

Hansol’s eyes flitted down to his feet. He heard Seungkwan exhale deeply.

“Just let me know if you need anything. I’ll be in the living room just outside, so you can just call anytime later tonight,” Hansol said, starting to turn away so he could leave the room, but stopped when he felt Seungkwan’s hand brush against his.

“Don’t,” he heard Seungkwan say, and then the other witch took his hand gently, their fingers intertwining. “Don’t go.”

Hansol looked down at their hands, at the way their fingers linked with each other. “What do you mean?”

“Stay with me tonight.”

Hansol looked up at Seungkwan. His eyes seemed insistent, and his lips were pursed in that pout that he knew too well.

“Are you sure?” Hansol asked, allowing himself to sit on the edge of the bed, close enough to Seungkwan.

Seungkwan nodded, not taking his hand away from Hansol’s. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. I don’t ever want to be alone.”

Hansol looked away for a moment, and then felt Seungkwan’s clasp on his hand grow the slightest bit tighter, a quick squeeze. He looked back, at Seungkwan’s soft eyes, at the round, pink cheeks with high cheekbones, at the messy rose hair that framed his face, at the rounded shoulders under his favorite pink hoodie. He looked back at him, and gave Seungkwan’s hand a quick squeeze too.

“I won’t leave you alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m sorry this is so late and its not even that good, writer’s block is kicking my ass and its time i kick it right back
> 
> unfortunately, this story is very close to its final few chapters, and i have actually began plans for my next project (coughroyaltyaucough) which i hope will incorporate all i've learned through writing this, but i will reveal more about it at the very end of this, of course
> 
> i’ll try my best to get the next chapter out on time (keyword: try)  
> love you all !! take care of yourselves !!!


	21. Stolen Acorns Represent Life

It’s only when the clouds shift past the window and the sunlight filters in through the half-closed blinds into the otherwise dim room, and only when the small bells of the windchime on the other side of the glass starts to ring a quiet melody, only then that Hansol began to awaken.

The bed creaked quietly as he slowly rolled over onto his left side, his eyes still refusing to open. His arm stretched out and fell over the warm figure next to him. There was a soft sound, and then the rustle of sheets right before a tuft of soft hair was tickling the spot right under his nose.

“Mhm.”

Hansol blinked, his eyes slowly flitting open. He pulled back a tiny bit, wanting to see what it was that was amusing him.

Seungkwan was next to him, his face inches away from his own. His cheek was pressed up against the pillow underneath him, and his hair was falling messily over his eyes. The gash across his forehead had turned into a small scar, and the bruise on his neck he hadn’t noticed earlier had faded from a dark red to light purple.

Seungkwan didn’t deserve those scars. They were never meant to be there. They were an ugly mark of dark magic on a beautiful human, and Hansol wished they would disappear.

In a brief moment of his sleepy state, he reached over and softly pushed Seungkwan’s hair off his forehead, tucking a strand behind his ear. Seungkwan must have felt it, because he began to stir in his sleep.

Hansol pulled his hand away, but Seungkwan had already pulled himself closer so he was against Hansol, his head tucked under the younger’s chin.

“Good morning,” came the warm greeting.

Hansol angled his head so he could see Seungkwan clearly.

“Morning,” he replied.

As far as Hansol could see - and he couldn't see much from this angle - Seungkwan was smiling contently.

“Should I move?” Seungkwan asked.

“This is fine.”

Seungkwan hummed happily and buried his face into the crook of Hansol’s neck, his hand bunched up in the front of Hansol’s shirt. Hansol could feel his breath against his skin. He wondered if Seungkwan could feel his heartbeat.

“How do you feel?” he asked. The clouds shifted past the window one more time and caused the light in the room to grow dim again.

“Everything still hurts,” Seungkwan replied peacefully. “But not as much as last night, I think.”

“That’s good. Try not to move too much.” He paused. “Are you hungry?”

“Kind of.”

“How about I go make breakfast?”

“That’d be nice.”

Hansol turned so he was lying on his back in an effort to get out of bed, making Seungkwan scowl and throw his arm across Hansol’s torso.

“Not yet,” Seungkwan said, shifting closer so he was pressed against Hansol’s side. “You’re warm.”

“Seungkwan-”

The older witch giggled softly, the arm around Hansol’s waist growing a little snugger. “We can eat after this. Stay like this for a moment.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m hurt, I need care. This is self-care.”

“Fine,” Hansol said, giving in and wrapping an arm around Seungkwan, pulling him into a warm embrace. “But only for a moment.”

 

♡

 

“I just saw myself in the mirror, and I think I look like Harry Potter with this scar on my forehead.”

Hansol looked up from the tray he was carrying to see Seungkwan frowning at himself in the mirror beside Hansol’s bed. He was sitting up against the headboard, tucked into multiple blankets.

“Now you’re a real wizard,” Hansol joked, putting down the tray and pulling a pillow over from his side of the bed to prop up behind Seungkwan.

“Is this what Harry feels after his big magical duels?” Seungkwan pouted, poking at the tray’s contents. “My head feels like there’s a rock superglued to it. And what’s with the cloth around my arm?”

“The cloth!” Hansol said, appearing to have remembered it. “Seokmin told me to replace it in the morning.”

He hurried out into the kitchen and brought back a small box. Pulling up a chair next to Seungkwan, he opened the box and pulled out a small bottle with a dropper. Seungkwan brought his arm out from under the sheets and allowed Hansol to carefully take the cloth off his arm.

“Seokmin will be here later today to take a look at your injuries,” Hansol said, dampening the cloth lightly with the liquid from the bottle. Seungkwan smelled something strong but didn’t ask what it was. “And I think everyone else might stop by themselves at some point too.”

“They will? That’s really thoughtful of them.” Seungkwan winced as Hansol wrapped the cloth back around his arm and tied it off. “Did anyone else get hurt too? I didn’t get a chance to see everyone properly last night.”

“Your energy was drained, don’t feel bad about it. Seungcheol probably has a few scars – Minghao too, not quite sure about the others, but I’m sure they don’t want you to worry about them.”

Seungkwan placed a hand over his mouth in disbelief. “How could I not worry? All my friends are hurt because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hansol said, tying off the cloth and looking up at Seungkwan properly. “None of this was because of you.”

“What happened then?” Seungkwan sighed, tilting his head back against the wood and letting his eyes close. “I don’t even remember.”

“Mingyu said he saw you making a wrong turn somewhere, and I think… Seungcheol’s sister – half sister – took her chance to attack you.”

“Was it because I entered her shop on accident that one time?” Seungkwan scoffed. “Because that’s just petty.”

“I think it was more of a threat towards Seungcheol. You got wrapped into something you weren’t meant to get involved with. His bad blood with her is his own story and shouldn’t have ever gotten woven into our coven. It was a mistake, and it cost us a few scars. Mostly on you.”

Seungkwan opened his eyes and gave Hansol a forlorn look.

Hansol gave him a sympathetic smile back. “Now get something to eat. Before Kiki comes in and sees the food.”

♡

As expected, Wonwoo showed up first to the store that morning, but Mingyu was with him this time, following along behind him.

“We brought cookies,” Wonwoo said, lifting up a woven basket covered in a plaid cloth as he entered. “Mingyu baked them.”

Mingyu blushed but nodded in confirmation.

“I brought healing crystals too,” Wonwoo continued, pulling a few crystals out of his pocket to reveal them and then put them back in. “You should leave them around the house. It'll make Seungkwan feel better faster.”

“I’ll do that,” Hansol laughed, gesturing for them to follow him upstairs. “And Seungkwan’s going to be happy to see the cookies.”

Seungkwan was reading a book when the three witches entered Hansol’s bedroom, putting it down to look up at them and then the basket they were carrying.

“Wonwoo! Mingyu! Hi!” he exclaimed, his smile growing bigger.

“Seungkwan, hey!” Mingyu greeted back. Wonwoo took Hansol’s chair next to the bed and put the basket on the table next to them. “How are you feeling now?”

“Not great,” he answered truthfully, “but much better now you guys are here.”

“You’ll feel better soon. Seokmin’s a miracle worker on those magical injuries,” Wonwoo said.

“But you know what will make you feel better?” Mingyu said, and then pulled the piece of cloth dramatically off the basket.

Seungkwan gasped at the sudden revelation of the baked goods. “Cookies! You guys are the best people in the world.”

“You’re going to make Hansol jealous,” Wonwoo joked, taking the cloth away from Mingyu and folding it neatly. “And those are still warm, I think. You should take a couple at some point before the others arrive and eat the rest.”

Seungkwan laughed and picked one out of the basket. “Hansol, take one,” he said after choosing for himself, handing one to the other. Hansol took it appreciatively.

“Some of them have dark chocolate chips and some have white chocolate chips,” Mingyu said as they bit into the cookies. “I don’t remember which ones are which.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Seungkwan replied, already reaching for another. “They’re perfect.”

“That’s what everyone says about me,” Wonwoo quipped, earning a shove from Mingyu, a groan from Hansol and the loudest laugh from Seungkwan himself.

 

◇

 

When Seokmin stopped over at around noon, he brought along a box of medical supplies, a bag of magical ones, and Hoshi.

“How’re you doing?” the tall witch asked as he put his stuff down on the bedside table. Hoshi sat cross-legged at the opposite end of the bed, a pillow on his lap. Hansol had pulled an armchair into the room earlier and was sat in it near Seungkwan.

“I feel like I’ll have to answer that question a million times today,” Seungkwan laughed.

“You can lie to everyone else, I just need a response for health reasons,” Seokmin joked. He pulled a bottle out of his bag and a few round cotton pads out of the box.

“The back of my head hurts,” Seungkwan admitted, “and my legs ache a little, but I think my arm is feeling better.”

Seokmin nodded, reaching for Seungkwan’s arm and undoing the cloth gently. The strong smell Seungkwan noticed earlier was apparent, and Seokmin smiled.

“Did Hansol redo this?” he asked, turning around to look at the witch in question.

“Yeah, this morning,” Seungkwan said, giving the other a grin. Hansol smiled back sheepishly and nodded at Seokmin.

“He knew to use sage oil even though I never mentioned it,” Seokmin remarked, putting the cloth away and pulling a new one out. “That’s impressive.”

“He’s talented,” Seungkwan said, not noticing Hansol’s embarrassment at the compliment.

“Are those cookies?” Hoshi asked, eyeing the basket. Seungkwan nodded and offered him one.

“Mingyu and Wonwoo stopped by earlier to drop them off,” he explained, watching Hoshi bite into one and squirm excitedly at the taste.

There was a jingle of bells announcing a visitor, and Hansol excused himself to go answer the door downstairs.

“They’re always together,” Seokmin remarked after Hansol left. He lifted up Seungkwan’s hand carefully to observe the wound on the back. It wasn’t glowing with dark magic anymore, but still looked bad. “I’ve never seen them apart.”

“You two are always together too,” Seungkwan said, gesturing at Hoshi.

“That’s on me,” Hoshi said, laughing. “I can’t leave Seokmin alone.”

“He thinks if I’m left alone for more than twenty minutes, I’ll stab myself with a pencil accidentally or something,” Seokmin explained, rolling his eyes. “I have to be babied by him.”

“Hey! You’re the one that cries every time you have to examine a baby animal in your bio class, and then I have to come pick you up at your dorms!” Hoshi exclaimed in defense, causing Seungkwan to laugh so hard that Seokmin had to tug on him to sit still for him.

“That’s literally your only valid argument. Besides, Seungkwan, you’re one to talk,” Seokmin continued. He soaked a cloth with a blue-ish liquid and dabbed it at the wound. Seungkwan winced. “You’re always stuck to Hansol’s side.”

“Yeah, but–” Seungkwan started in defense, stuttering. “It’s not like – we just–”

“You get flustered so easily,” Hoshi laughed, reaching for another cookie.

“Fine, yeah,” Seungkwan said, giving in and throwing his head back against the bedpost. “I’m just – I’m just happier around him.”

“Have you told him any of that?” Seokmin asked, continuing to pat at the wound. “It’d make him blush.”

“I’m glad you guys are good again,” Hoshi said. “It was worrying the rest of us.”

“Shit, okay,” Seungkwan said, his eyes widening. “I didn’t know it was that – ouch, Seokmin, do it softer – I didn't know it was that obvious. It was just a misunderstanding between us. I think it was my fault but he won’t let me admit that.”

“Of course not,” Seokmin said, putting away the cloth. “Both of you want to be the responsible one in the relationship, but sometimes it’s okay to just take things slow and figure it out as it happens.”

Seungkwan nodded in response, right before the door opened again and Hansol came in with Chan, Jihoon, and Jun.

“We’ve got more guests,” Hansol said as they all ran towards Seungkwan, surrounding the bed.

Chan put a bouquet of flowers next to Seungkwan. “I grew these,” he said happily, fixing a stray leaf.

“They’re so pretty!” Seungkwan said, grabbing them and putting them to his face so he could smell them.

“You doing better?” Jun asked, taking what was previously Hansol’s armchair next to the bed. Jihoon sat on the edge of the bed close to Hoshi and put a small package on the bed. Seungkwan leaned forward and picked it up. Hansol left momentarily and came back in dragging another chair.

“A lot better now,” Seungkwan answered, undoing the string ribbon around the package. “I’m being spoiled with all of this. Also Jihoon! You look almost as bad as me! You shouldn’t have troubled yourself with this.”

“It only looks bad,” Jihoon reassured, gesturing at the cut across his cheek. “It’ll heal soon. Also save the gift to open later.”

Seungkwan nodded and put it next to the flowers.

“I heard you were tough as fuck last night,” Chan said to Jihoon. “Jeonghan said those black magic witches underestimated you.”

“It’s because you’re so tiny,” Hoshi said, earning a shove that nearly pushed him off the bed.

“Jun, you were watching it happen, weren’t you?” Seokmin asked. He gestured at Jihoon to come closer so he could see the scratch.

“Only for a little,” Jun said, “But Seungcheol asked me to astral project so if anything happens we’d be able to help out.”

“Were you doing it after I got back?”

Jun shook his head. “You would have noticed. My eyes cloud over when I project. Seungcheol only asked me to do it if he was taking too long to get back.”

“But was Jihoon tough as fuck is the real question here,” Hoshi interjected, receiving another shove.

“Oh yeah,” Jun laughed. “There’s a lot of power in that small frame.”

“You’re lucky you’re too far away for me to fight right now,” Jihoon scoffed, but you could see he was trying to hide the pride from the compliments.

“I heard Joshua fought too,” Seungkwan said. “He never struck me as the type.”

“He’s soft always except when he’s absolutely furious,” Jun explained. “Then he’s terrifying.”

“How’s Minghao, by the way?” Hansol asked, suddenly remembering.

“He’s doing fine,” Jun said, smiling. “He was a bit too tired to come today, but he hopes you get well soon, Seungkwan.”

“Tell him I said the same for him,” Seungkwan said.

At that moment, the door moved by barely an inch and there was a small patter of paws, and all the witch’s heads turned to watch as Kiki strode in, jumped onto the bed, and nestled herself right on top of Seungkwan, much to his surprise.

“She’s finally back,” Hansol remarked. “She’s been out all morning.”

“She brought back something,” Jihoon said, noticing something in her mouth. He reached out and Kiki dropped it in his hand.

“It’s an acorn,” Seokmin commented, picking it out of Jihoon’s hand to look closely at it.

“She’s a smart cat,” Chan said. Everyone turned to look at him questioningly, and he chuckled. “Acorns are a symbol of strength and life. She’s celebrating Seungkwan’s safe return.”

“That’s incredible,” Seungkwan said in awe, cuddling Kiki closer in thanks. “You’re incredible, Kiki.”

“I wonder which squirrel she stole that from.”

“Hoshi, don’t ruin the mood like that!”

 

◇

 

“I’m absolutely exhausted,” Seungkwan said, closing the bathroom door behind him and leaning against it haphazardly. “Come get me.”

Hansol laughed and walked out from the kitchen so Seungkwan could prop himself up on the other one’s shoulder and get to the couch safely.

“So how much longer until I can walk around without getting yelled at by twelve annoying witches, do you think?” Seungkwan asked, throwing himself across Hansol’s couch and leaving no space for the latter.

“A couple of days, I think,” Hansol said, returning to the kitchen. “And I take offense to being called an annoying witch.”

“You are an annoying witch. If it’s any consolation, I am too. Also a couple of days? Why do I have to suffer like this?”

“Hey, I ordered in Thai food because you said you wanted some for dinner and I didn’t know how to make anything,” Hansol said, dropping a bag with a couple of takeout boxes and bottles of soft drinks onto the table and returning to the kitchen.

“And I’ll love you forever for that,” Seungkwan said, throwing an arm out to grab a box. “What did you order in anyway?”

Instead of a reply, what Seungkwan got was a loud crash and a scream.

“Hansol! What’s happening?” he asked hurriedly, sitting himself upright despite the aches in his legs.

“I dropped a cup!” was the shaky response.

“Oh my god, you absolute idiot,” Seungkwan said, beginning to laugh maniacally. “Can I come help you clean it up?”

“No! Stay where you are! I’ll do it myself.”

“Are you sure?” Seungkwan called back.

Hansol didn’t respond, which Seungkwan took as an affirmative answer. He returned from the kitchen within five minutes, carrying two (unbroken) cups and two small ice-cream containers.

“Everything okay?” Seungkwan asked, moving aside so Hansol could sit.

Hansol nodded, placing everything down on the table. “Want a blanket?”

“That’d be nice,” Seungkwan said thankfully.

Hansol went out into the hallway and brought back two blankets, a grey one for himself and a faded pink one for the other. He paused to turn off the larger lights in the hallway, leaving only the standing lamp near Seungkwan on, the warm glow casting over Seungkwan’s skin.

“What’s the plan then?” Seungkwan asked, grabbing the pink blanket when Hansol was close enough for him to do so.

“All of this –” Hansol said, gesturing at the food before nestling himself next to Seungkwan with the grey one over him, his arms above it so he could reach for his laptop, “- and a film.”

“Sounds perfect,” Seungkwan replied, grabbing the takeout box he picked up earlier. “Not what I used to imagine a witch’s night in to be like.”

“We do normal things too,” Hansol said nonchalantly, scrolling through a list of movies. “What do you feel like watching?”

“Anything,” came the reply. Seungkwan opened up the top of the box and peeked inside. “Stir-fried meat and vegetables. Are you sure you couldn’t have made this yourself?”

Hansol shrugged, his eyes still focused on the screen. Seungkwan took a moment to examine his features, knowing Hansol wouldn’t look back, before slowly reaching up and placing his fingers softly under Hansol’s chin, swiveling his head around to face each other.

Hansol stared at him, wide-eyed, surprised at the gesture. Seungkwan, steely-eyed, continued to observe the other closely.

“What are you doing?” Hansol asked, his voice quiet. Seungkwan’s hand was still holding up his jaw, and Hansol could feel the soft touch of his fingers against the skin there.

Seungkwan softened his expression. “You seem off. Something’s troubling you.”

“No, it’s not,” Hansol protested, but Seungkwan stopped him.

“You always do this,” he said. Hansol felt the other’s thumb brush against his jawline. “What’s wrong?”

Hansol sighed and turned his head back to the laptop screen. “Nothing’s wrong… technically.”

“Hansol.”

Hansol turned to face him one more time. “It was just… that thing you said earlier. It surprised me.”

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow. “About making the Thai food yourself?”

“Not that. Before that.”

Seungkwan heaved a sigh. “I don’t remember everything I said in the last ten minutes. You’re going to have to remind me.”

Hansol’s eyes flitted back down to the screen. “About how I ordered in food for you.”

Seungkwan stared at him for a moment, unable to remember what it was, until it came back to him suddenly.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “Hansol, did that make you uncomfortable?”

There was a brief moment, and then Hansol shook his head.

Seungkwan started to giggle excitedly, pulling Hansol into a hug through the blankets. “Hansol! I didn’t realize I said that at all. I don’t even know what to say.”

He pulled away then for a moment to look at the other, his hands moving up to cup Hansol’s face softly. Hansol’s scared eyes met his, and Seungkwan wanted to do nothing more than pull him back into that hug, protecting him in his arms. Instead, he pulled up as much courage as he could possibly muster and said, “You know I do mean it though, right? I do love you a lot.”

Seungkwan had never seen someone get embarrassed as quickly as Hansol did at that moment, his cheeks immediately growing hot and his eyes looking away as fast as he could. Seungkwan wasn’t having it though; he used his hands placed on Hansol’s cheeks to angle him back so they could look at each other.

“Hansol, listen,” Seungkwan said, staring the other right in the eyes. Hansol gulped. “I know it seems like a big deal. I understand if you can’t say it back. I just want you to know, alright? We fucked up once because we were too scared to talk. I don’t want to make that mistake again. If it makes you uncomfortable, tell me. All I want is for you to know that I don’t take you for granted. You mean a lot to me.”

As Seungkwan watched, a small droplet of water began to form in the corner of Hansol’s eye, and he tried to look away to hide it, but Seungkwan wouldn’t move his hands away.

“Hansol,” he said softly, using his thumb to tenderly wipe away the tear. Hansol’s breathing had started to tremble. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry.”

“No,” Hansol replied quietly. His voice was shaky. “Don’t say sorry. I’m not angry at you.”

He took hold of Seungkwan’s wrists gently and took them off his cheeks, placing them into his lap but not letting go of them.

“I’m not angry at you,” he repeated. “What you said… it’s true. I don’t want to mess this up for us either.”

Seungkwan nodded understandingly, giving Hansol a pause to take a deep breath. A tear trailed down his face and left a stain on his cheek. Seungkwan wanted to wipe it away but didn’t want to let go of Hansol’s hands.

“And what you said,” Hansol said, “I don’t want you to regret it. I – I feel the same. I don’t want you to think I take you for granted either. I- I love you a lot too.”

The corner of Seungkwan’s mouth perked up into what seemed like the tiniest smile, but Hansol let out a shaky breath as it appeared, and Seungkwan knew it meant something. “You’re brave, Hansol. You should know that. You’re very brave. And I don’t want to have to see you cry.”

“I’m not crying because I’m sad,” Hansol protested, laughing softly through his tears and brushing them away. “I was just overwhelmed.”

“Is that why you broke the cup?” Seungkwan said, suddenly realizing it. “Did I scare you into dropping it?”

Hansol nodded, and Seungkwan burst into laughter. “That’s on me, I’ll buy you a new cup,” he said jokingly.

“Don’t you dare,” Hansol said, letting go of one of Seungkwan’s hands to wake up the screen on his laptop. “I’m the one treating you.”

“And I want to repay you,” Seungkwan said, leaning into Hansol so he could rest his head on the other’s shoulder. “Maybe not by buying you a cup, but something anyway. And you can’t object to that.”

“Fine,” Hansol said, giving in, “but for now, let’s just watch a film. Our ice-cream is about to melt.”

“What flavor did you get me?”

“Mint chocolate chip.”

“Perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey surprise its an upload! i'm not dead/i haven't abandoned the fic !
> 
> i would firstly like to apologize for disappearing for a whole month, that was a mix of me needing to be responsible for other things in life and also me being too lazy to figure out how to write what i wanted to write (this is why it’s good to outline a story before writing so if you get stuck you have something to go off of, just a little tip from a crappy writer)
> 
> i’ll try my very best to get the next chapter up in a slightly more reasonable time, and after this is all done (yeah, we’re almost at the very end, how did time go by so fast), we’ll see how much i’ve figured out my next projects weewoo
> 
> also can i just say, i don't know if yall realise how fucking funny you all are. the comments i get sometime just really make me laugh and sometimes they're just so sweet i want to burst into happy tears. i just really love and appreciate you all is what im tryna say basically
> 
> anyway until next time, stay happy and healthy everyone !! i love you all !!


	22. A Ten of Cups for True Happiness

The sun had gone down hours ago and the clock was nearing midnight, and Seungkwan – holding a couple of glass bottles in one hand and Hansol’s hand in the other – climbed up the narrow staircase to the rooftop.

“Why are we up here?” Hansol asked as they emerged onto the night air, the stars sparkling and the moon shimmering above the two of them. He carried a small cloth bag with him.

This was the second time they had come up here together, and though the setting remained the same - flat concrete looking out towards the town and the starry skies - the mood was entirely different.

“Because I wanted to repay you for helping me heal,” Seungkwan said, leading Hansol forward, “and I couldn’t think of anything nice to do for you that wouldn’t risk me getting hurt again.”

“Because a dinner date is more dangerous than sitting on a rooftop,” Hansol scoffed, and Seungkwan let go of his hand to push him playfully.

“I know you’re not the biggest fan of social situations, you absolute dork,” Seungkwan returned, sitting himself down on the concrete near the edge and gesturing for Hansol to follow. “And the last time we came up here, you went on that stupid rant about aliens and I was laughing too hard to enjoy the actual reason we came up here.”

Hansol sat himself cross-legged beside Seungkwan. "Aliens are real, Kwannie."

"Listen, just because you're a Star Wars nerd doesn't mean you have to shove it down everyone's throats like that."

"Star Wars isn't about aliens!"

"Close enough!" Seungkwan countered. "That wasn't even my point. I wanted to redo this."

"Aren’t you scared of falling off the edge again?”

“Not anymore. At least I don’t think so. Here,” Seungkwan said, handing a bottle to Hansol.

Hansol took a glance at the label on the outside of the bottle before opening it to sniff the contents. “Soju?”

“To relax,” Seungkwan explained, opening his own and taking a sip. “I’ve never seen you tipsy. Besides, I thought we could make the most of this beautiful starry night. It’s a full moon too. Did you bring the stuff I asked for?”

Hansol nodded and tossed the cloth bag at the other. Seungkwan caught it and opened it up carefully.

“Why did you need all of this?” Hansol asked, watching as Seungkwan pulled out a bundle of colored candles tied together.

“Well,” Seungkwan said, untying the knot on the string and separating the candles by color, “Jihoon gave me a book of spells a while ago. Handwritten, so I assume he chose them himself.”

“He did that for you?” Hansol said, smiling at the witch’s thoughtfulness.

Seungkwan nodded, a smile forming on his features, then pausing his task to pull a small book out of his pocket to show Hansol. The cover was a faded pink cloth, with intricate designs in white thread sewn into it. Hansol recognized the symbols for love, strength, and magic, as well as a few other more complex ones. He opened the cover and noticed Seungkwan’s initials written carefully on the front, as well as a quick ‘Happy Birthday’ with Jihoon’s small signature. The papers were also threaded together, and Jihoon’s meticulous handwriting spelled out rituals and spells and charms.

“There’s a lot of love spells in here,” Hansol mused out loud as he flipped through the pages, not noticing Seungkwan’s sudden embarrassed reaction. “He put a lot of effort into this.”

“He’s caring. And he knew I was probably the only one in the coven without a Book of Spells. I don’t know enough magic to fill one up myself yet.”

“I filled mine up as I learned,” Hansol said, closing the book and brushing his finger lightly against the design on the outside. “But this is nice, because you can skip the phase we all had where we were too awkward to ask people how to do things.”

“I can always ask you,” Seungkwan said. “That’s also why I dragged you up here. I noticed one of the spells was for a full moon night, so I thought we could do it together up here.”

“Is it a spell made for two?” Hansol asked, handing the book back to Seungkwan.

Seungkwan nodded, opening up the book again and finding the right page. “There’s a footnote in here that says I should do it with someone else.”

“Why me though?”

Seungkwan lowered his voice. “It says your name specifically.”

Hansol burst out into laughter. "Jihoon really did personalize it."

“Let’s do this then,” Seungkwan said, putting the book down flat on the concrete. “Can you help me cast a circle? I’ve never done it myself before.”

Hansol nodded, quickly taking a sip from his own bottle and placing it aside before standing up.

“We’ll cast it around the both of us,” Hansol explained, taking Seungkwan’s hand so they were both standing next to each other. He gestured for Seungkwan to relax and then closed his eyes, knowing Seungkwan would follow. He stretched out an arm, silently creating a protective shield, filling the circle with pure energies.

“I feel goosebumps,” Seungkwan whispered, his voice shaking.

“It’s alright,” Hansol replied equally as softly. “I’m going to cast the circle now, so just stay still and let it happen.”

Seungkwan nodded. Hansol began to draw out an imaginary circle with two fingers, all the way around the both of them.

“I ask that the God and Goddess bless this circle, so that I may be free and protected within this space. So mote it be.”

Seungkwan shuddered, and Hansol let go of his hand.

“That gave me a weird feeling,” Seungkwan said, giving a half laugh.

“Did you feel tingles or something?”

Seungkwan nodded. “Is the actual spell going to feel like that?”

“I doubt it,” Hansol said, “unless Jihoon wrote it like that.”

“I hope he didn’t,” Seungkwan said, sitting down and picking up the book. “We have to light a white candle and put rose petals into the small bowl.”

Hansol pulled a small copper bowl and a small handful of rose petals. He put the petals into the bowl and set it in front of them.

“Ribbons have to be tied to a bell,” Seungkwan continued. Hansol reached into the bag and pulled out three ribbons and a tiny bell. He tied the ribbon carefully to the bell and put it next to the bowl.

“Do you want to say the spell?” he asked, sitting down next to Seungkwan and choosing a white candle from the pile.

“It says we take a verse each and then the last one together,” Seungkwan said, using his finger to point out the footnote.

“I’ll start then,” Hansol said, lighting the candle and whispering a few words of purification towards it. Seungkwan handed him the book and he set it in front of him, taking Seungkwan’s hand carefully and linking their fingers. “Remember to let the spell send its energies through to you.”

Seungkwan nodded, closing his hand around Hansol’s and listening carefully to how Hansol read his lines, slowly and carefully and full of magic.

"Under the glowing light of the full moon, what will be coming soon, we will create. We work as one, and will forever, and all it will dictate."

Hansol picked up the bell and rung it once softly. He put it down again and slid the book past the candle to the spot in front of Seungkwan.

“Your part,” he said quietly.

Seungkwan nodded and read his part, taking care to say it as carefully as he could.

“We release all that hold us back. We release all fear. We release all doubt. We release all sadness. We release all anger. We release all heart ache. We release all heart break. We release all the old, for the new to unfold.”

Hansol rung the bell softly once more, smiling. He pulled the book back so it was sitting between them, the light of the candle spread over the pages evenly.

“Let’s read the last lines together.”

Seungkwan nodded and took Hansol’s hand, and they began to speak as one.

“Our hearts as one now, our energies shared, we ask for protection and peace. For luck and for love. We ask as for the deities to guide us so we will never be lost, and if we must, then we be returned to each other.”

A warm energy began to grow between them, connecting them through their linked hands and spreading through them together. As it settled, Seungkwan let out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, and Hansol let go of his hand.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the feeling of that,” Seungkwan said, grabbing the book and scanning the notes.

“It feels like when you use your power, doesn’t it? I felt the same energies,” Hansol commented, leaning back on his arm.

“I guess so, but it’s still not something I’ll get used to until I become better at this.”

“Once you’re completely healed, you can start using your powers again.”

“That’s for another time then,” Seungkwan answered.

“What do we do now?” Hansol asked, leaning towards Seungkwan to take a look at the pages, but Seungkwan pulled away quickly so Hansol couldn’t see.

“Why’d you move away?” Hansol laughed, reaching for the book playfully, and Seungkwan let out a playful yelp and held the book up in the air out of Hansol’s reach.

“We’re done with this part!” Seungkwan squealed, waving his arms around avoiding Hansol’s grabbing hands. “We just wait for the candles to burn out now!”

“Fine,” Hansol said, giving up and laughing. “Let’s enjoy the rest of the night or whatever you brought me up here for.”

He paused for a moment, then stood up and went over to the ledge, seating himself so his legs were hanging off the side of the building.

“Careful,” Seungkwan said, eyeing the drop.

“I won’t fall,” Hansol reassured. “Come join me.”

“What if I fall?”

“You won’t. I’ll make sure you won’t.”

Seungkwan scoffed. “Fine, but if I’m going down then I’m pulling you down with me.”

Hansol laughed and stretched out his arm, offering a hand. Seungkwan left the book behind and walked over, taking Hansol’s hand and seating himself carefully next to the other.

“It’s a nice view,” Seungkwan said, comfortable enough now to take a look at the late night panorama. A small neon sign directly below them advertised psychic readings at Hansol’s shop, casting a pink hue onto the street across from it. Only a few lights were on at this time, scattered in little squares across the otherwise dark town, and beyond that, the distant but ever-glowing lights of the nearest city. Seungkwan wanted to take a picture, make it last forever, but he didn’t. Instead he pasted the image into his brain, wanting to remember it like that.

Neither of the two witches knew the time anymore. It might have been close to sunrise, it might not have been. It didn't matter. They weren't keeping count, because the comfort of sitting next to each other staring out into the universe was good enough.

A wind swept through, making the trees rustle and Seungkwan shudder. Hansol whispered a quiet word of warmth.

“I heard you,” Seungkwan said, amused.

“It’s a quick-fix spell,” Hansol said. “I can go get you a blanket if you’re cold.”

“No, this is fine,” Seungkwan reassured, taking a sip from his bottle. “The view makes up for it. And this soju. But mostly the view.”

“I like this side of town,” Hansol continued. “I set up shop here because I liked how quiet it was.”

“Of course you did,” Seungkwan said, smiling. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked you why you ever wanted to open this shop in the first place.”

“And the reason I haven’t told you first is because I honestly don’t know myself,” Hansol replied. “It wasn’t a childhood dream or anything. I think it was because I couldn’t think of any other way to go about my life with my so-called witch powers.”

“I hope this doesn’t sound rude,” Seungkwan said, “but if you didn’t’ have any real powers, why couldn’t you go about life like an ordinary non-magic person?”

“Because I love magic too much,” Hansol said, sighing. “I grew up in a magical household – my mom taught me most of what I know. I don’t think I would have liked a non-magic life.”

“When did you realize you didn’t have a special power?”

“I don’t recall exactly when,” Hansol replied. “I must have been young, because I do remember my mom telling me how special powers worked. She used to describe it as a special magic that filled up a certain place inside of you. I couldn’t ever find that ‘special place’, and that’s probably when I realized.”

“So you taught yourself tarot to fill up that space?”

Hansol nodded. “I think so. I didn’t want to be the only witch with an empty space. A missing puzzle piece.”

“A missing puzzle piece,” Seungkwan said quietly.

Hansol nodded. “It’s not the happiest thing to talk about. But it is what it is, you know?”

“But Hansol,” Seungkwan said, taking one of Hansol’s hands and holding it with both of his reassuringly. His eyes were glowing with some form of recognition. “Haven’t you ever considered you were meant to have an empty space in there?”

Hansol furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a bit of a stupid theory, honestly,” Seungkwan said, his eyes focused on his lap, where he was using his thumb to stroke the back of Hansol’s hand softly. “But maybe you were given an empty space so it could be filled up with magic eventually.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hansol said. “Witches can’t transfer magic between each other.”

“No, but I can share mine,” Seungkwan responded. “Maybe it’s the energy you feel when I use my powers with you. When I teleport or project or whatever and I take you with me. It’s my powers transferring over to you. Like… like a gas tank or something.”

Hansol chuckled. “I don’t think a gas tank is very magical, but I think I understand what you mean. Like I’m a sort of vessel or receptacle or something like that.”

“Exactly!” Seungkwan said, his face entirely full of excitement.

“You know what?” Hansol said, “I’m completely down with that theory. If it means you need me to share your magic with, and I need you to complete that last puzzle piece, then it’s perfect.”

Seungkwan giggled and let go of Hansol’s hand to wrap him in a hug, his cheek squished against Hansol’s. “I’m glad you agree. And it means you’re extra special because of your secondary talent with tarot cards. You’ve kind of got two powers, if you really think about it.”

Hansol pulled away and laughed. “Not really, but that’s also reassuring to me for all those years I spent worrying about why I didn’t have a power. Now I’ve sort of got two.”

“Yeah, you do,” Seungkwan said, reaching into Hansol’s pocket and pulling out his deck of tarot cards.

“How did you know those were there?” Hansol asked, surprised, watching Seungkwan shuffle through the cards.

“I know you well,” Seungkwan said, smirking.

“Seungkwan.”

“Alright, fine! I felt them when I hugged you,” Seungkwan said, laughing cheekily. “But I’m glad you brought them. I want you to do a reading.”

Hansol took the cards from Seungkwan and did a quick energy cleanse, making sure all the cards passed through his hands at least once. He put the deck down next to the candle, which had burned down quite a bit, but the light still enough to see the cards in the early morning darkness.

“We’ll do a three card spread,” Hansol said. “It’s the easiest.”

He shuffled the cards and cut the deck a few times and held them out in a fan to Seungkwan, who picked three cards and put them face down in between them. Hansol collected the rest of them and put them aside.

“For your past,” he turned over the first card, “the Tower.”

“And this means?” Seungkwan asked.

“An unexpected change or event. Something so powerful it’ll make you reconsider your thoughts.”

Seungkwan hummed shortly in response, sliding the card towards him with his finger to look at the illustration on the front.

“Does that make any sense at all?”

Seungkwan nodded. “I think so.”

“That’s good. For your present,” Hansol picked the second card, “the Four of Swords.”

“I know this one,” Seungkwan said, “rest and relaxation.”

“It’s a sign to stop worrying and let everything settle. You’ve gotten past the hardest obstacles.”

“That’s reassuring,” Seungkwan said with a smile. “And the last one?”

“For the future,” he picked up the last card, “the Ten of Cups.”

“Which is?”

“True happiness.”

“A happy ending?” Seungkwan asked.

Sunrise had begun to near. The first rays of sunlight were appearing in the horizon, turning black into midnight blue into violets and reds and pinks.

“Of course,” Hansol said. The candle was about to burn out.

“We have to finish the spell,” Seungkwan said, watching the small, shaky flame.

“How? Hansol asked, reaching for the book again, but Seungkwan pulled it away once more.

“Well…” Seungkwan trailed off, opening the book himself and finding the page. “It says here, “as night turns to day and the candle goes out with a hiss, ask for blessings one more time from the deities above, and above all, seal your wish with a kiss.”

“A wha–” Hansol said, immediately choking on his words and grabbing his bottle desperately.

“Merlin, Hansol, are you okay?” Seungkwan said, reaching over to console Hansol as he coughed madly.

“I’m fine,” Hansol croaked. He took a large gulp from the bottle as Seungkwan watched nervously. “What did you say?”

“I said, seal your wish with a – don’t choke again – a kiss.”

Color began to rise in Hansol’s cheeks as he asked quietly, “Did Jihoon write that?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Hansol!” Seungkwan said, splitting with laughter. “Seriously, it does say that’s how to end the spell.”

“And you knew!” Hansol retorted. Seungkwan could tell he was trying to act upset but was too flustered to pretend. “Did you pick that spell on purpose?”

“It said it was a full moon spell!” Seungkwan protested, but it was obvious he had known, and in all honesty, Hansol couldn't blame him for that.

“Of course, it was,” Hansol said, turning away for a moment to breathe in deeply. “Okay then.”

“Okay?” Seungkwan asked. He took a good look at Hansol, or at least his silhouette, outlined by the colors of the sunrise. It was breathtaking.

Hansol nodded and turned back. “Yeah. Let’s close the spell.”

Seungkwan scooted closer and took Hansol’s hand gently, a calming gesture. This was more than habit at this point.

“Say your wishes one more time,” he said, his voice quiet, in a way different to any way Hansol had ever heard him be before. “To yourself.”

Hansol nodded. He turned his head to face the sunrise, taking in the view, and then closed his eyes, his lips parted slightly as he made his wish.

Seungkwan didn’t make a wish. He didn’t need to.

Instead, he took his hand off Hansol's to softly angle him back so they were facing each other, and then leaned in slowly until there was almost nothing between them.

And then he closed the distance and pressed his lips to Hansol’s.

Hansol’s lips were soft, just the tiniest bit chapped, but everything felt so perfect in that moment that Seungkwan couldn’t be bothered to care. The hand he had cupped around Hansol’s cheek dropped to carefully take Hansol’s hand again.

Hansol was feeling the same, and though he had been taken aback at first, now it felt like the last puzzle piece had been set into place. He could taste the alcohol on Seungkwan, but the smell of something sweet such as strawberries or cherry blossoms or whatever that Seungkwan always had on him was intoxicating, and Hansol was pulled in.

Seungkwan was the first of the two to break the kiss, letting out a deep breath, his eyes slowly opening to look at Hansol. Hansol's eyes were half-shut, his lips slightly parted. And the feelings took hold of Seungkwan once more, so he leaned in and kissed Hansol again, and all the emotions returned, filling his head and his heart.

Seungkwan pulled away again when he felt Hansol smile against his lips. “Why are you smiling?”

Hansol hiccupped once, making Seungkwan giggle. “I don’t know. I’m happy.”

Seungkwan looked down at Hansol’s lap, where they had their hands together, their fingers tangled. “I’m happy too.”

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, too awkward to make eye contact but also so full of unspoken emotions that were shared so strongly that it was also not awkward at all.

“Didn’t the book say we only kiss once to end the spell?” Hansol spoke up finally, looking up to meet Seungkwan’s eyes. They were sparkling, glistening, with love and pure joy.

“I don’t care what the book says,” Seungkwan replied quietly. “It’s our magic. We use it how we want.”

“So it’d be okay,” Hansol asked, turning to watch the candle’s flame go out completely, “if we kissed again?”

“Merlin, Hansol. Of course. Don’t make this weird.”

Hansol laughed, the cheerful sound ringing together with the chirps of the early morning birds and his eyes twinkling like the last few stars in the sky, and both their eyes fluttered close as they leaned towards each other one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7000+ hits and 500+ kudos holy shit you guys!!!!!!!  
> i don't even keep up with stats but when i went to upload this chapter the number hit me in the face like a brick and i'm still recovering from the shock but i want to thank you all a million times!!!
> 
> i hope this chapter was ok/made sense, i'm trying to fit everything neatly back into its boxes before i tie off the final ribbon next chapter (i know its sad but i promise new projects will be coming soon, more details later)  
> i was hoping to upload this chapter earlier so the last chapter could be up the week before my birthday (24-04 woop woop) but you guys know i suck at schedules so the next one will be up when it's been edited to perfection or whatever
> 
> to everyone who's been commenting and leaving votes, i want you to know you guys are the reason i do this and you're the most amazing people ever ♡ ♡ ♡  
> take care!! love you all!! ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡


	23. Ostara Wishes for Love

A happy ending. That's all Seungkwan had ever hoped for in life.

Reading his favorite stories as a child, about fantastical places and people with unimaginable powers, and most importantly – how they always found their prince at the end, that's all he ever wanted.

And sitting here now, surrounded by all his friends, casting spells – this could be that.

"Does anyone have any last blessings or wishes to ask for before we close the circle?" Seungcheol asked, holding up his chalice of wine and looking around the circle of thirteen witches. A lucky number.

Joshua picked up his own chalice – elderflower cordial – to signal his turn to speak. "As springtime is now here," he said in his usual gentle manner, looking around at the den which had been decorated in spring colors and flowers, and through the large windows at the rows of cherry blossom trees which lined the streets, "I want to ask for blessings of a new beginning."

"Yes to that," Seungcheol agreed, taking a sip from his chalice, and so did everyone else. "Anyone else?" he continued.

Hoshi raised his chalice. "Am I allowed to wish for money?"

"Yes, but we're all going to judge you."

"Never mind then," Hoshi said and put down his chalice. Seokmin began to laugh next to him.

"Does anyone else want to ask for anything else?" Seungcheol asked again.

After a brief moment, Seungkwan made the decision to pick up his own chalice. "Could I make a wish for the coven?"

"Of course," Seungcheol said, encouraging him to continue.

Seungkwan looked at his left, where Hansol was sat with him, looking as beautiful as ever, and then around at everyone else, glowing in their own magical ways. "I wish for everyone to be loved."

"That's really sweet, Seungkwan," Chan said from his right, picking up his chalice – wine, he had requested it specifically to annoy Jeonghan, though that was not an important point to make anymore.

Seungkwan smiled and took a sip of his drink.

♡

"Ostara is my favorite out of all the Wiccan rituals," Chan explained to Seungkwan after the ritual was over. "Seungcheol always has flowers everywhere. The house starts to smell like a perfumery. Sometimes we use lily stems to cast spells. I wonder why we didn't get one today."

"I don't know. It'd have been pretty magical though," Seungkwan said, scanning the room for Seungcheol but spotting Hansol instead, who was talking to Wonwoo but caught his eye anywhere. They shared a smile, and Chan made an amused sound.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" Chan said, heading towards where Hansol was and pulling him away from Wonwoo.

"I was talking to him!" Wonwoo called out as Chan dragged Hansol out the door of the den. Seungkwan was stood next to him, equally as surprised.

"Go whine to Mingyu about it!" Chan yelled back, not listening as Wonwoo grumbled something about how he's the coven's spoiled baby.

They turned the corner into the hallway, and Chan directed them towards the kitchen, shutting the door behind them and spinning around to face Hansol, an excited look on his face.

"So?" he asked, looking at Hansol expectantly.

"So?" Hansol repeated, confused.

"What's the deal now? You and Seungkwan?"

Hansol began to blush. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act like you don't know anything," Chan said, crossing his arms and giving the other a knowing look. "I talked to Kiki when I visited your shop yesterday. She told me what happened last week."

"I really have to keep you and Kiki apart when you come over," Hansol grumbled.

"First of all, not happening. Second, is it true? Are you guys... together now or what?"

Hansol looked away. "I mean, I guess so."

"What do you mean, you guess so?" Chan asked.

"We– ," Hansol said, his voice growing quiet all of a sudden, " – we did kiss."

"Holy shit, dude!" Chan said, jumping up and throwing his arms around Hansol in a hug. "I knew it!"

Hansol didn't answer, hugging back Chan instead, growing happier by the second.

"Listen," Chan said when he pulled away. "I've got to go – places to be – but promise me you'll try your hardest to make things work. I want to be able to see my friends happy."

"I promise, Chan," Hansol said gratefully.

"Good," Chan said with a huge smile. "I'll come see you guys at your shop tomorrow afternoon!" He waved and skipped out of the kitchen, leaving Hansol behind quite flustered but happy.

He stood there for a moment, leaning against a kitchen counter, staring out the window at the street outside as people left the covenstead waving goodbye at each other and going their separate ways home. When he heard the door swing open again, he turned back to see Seungkwan peeking out from behind the wooden frame.

"Hey," Seungkwan said quietly, stepping into the room and letting the door swing shut behind him. "Chan left?"

Hansol nodded. "Just a minute ago."

"What did he want?" Seungkwan asked, going over to where Hansol was and leaning on the counter next to him.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to ask about stuff."

Seungkwan let out a laugh. "Of course."

The silence settled as he let out a breath, looking down at the patterned tiled floor. There was a space, not awkward, just unsure.

"Can I kiss you?" Hansol's voice came out quietly, gently.

"Right now?" Seungkwan asked, amused. He looked up at Hansol.

"Why not?"

"Because our friends are right outside, Hansolie," Seungkwan said, reaching up to play with the string on Hansol's hoodie tentatively.

"Just one?"

Seungkwan looked into Hansol's adoring – persuasive – eyes for a moment before giving in, pulling on the string to bring Hansol closer so he could give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Is it weird to say I'm sort of obsessed with you?" Hansol said as they pulled away, looking at Seungkwan's hand tangled up in the front of Hansol's hoodie.

Seungkwan shook his head softly, and Hansol leaned in to kiss him one more time.

Before their lips could meet again however, the kitchen door swung open and Jun stood there, looking like he was about to say something but had gotten a startling surprise instead.

The two pulled away, Seungkwan immediately feeling a heat rush to his cheeks and Hansol turning to look away self-consciously.

"Did I enter at the wrong moment?" Jun asked, still standing awkwardly in the doorway unable to move.

"No, no," Seungkwan reassured quickly, grabbing Hansol's hand (to the latter's horror). "We were about to leave anyway."

"Oh. Okay," he said, giving them a quick half-smile. He began to turn away, but then turned back to look at them one more time. "By the way, about this, does anyone else know?"

Seungkwan felt his cheeks get even redder, and was about to answer 'no', but was cut off by Hansol answering, "Only you and Chan."

" _Chan?_ " Seungkwan said, letting go of Hansol's hand to step away in surprise.

"Jihoon probably knows because of his clairvoyance too," Jun said, earning a dramatic gasp from Seungkwan. "And Joshua, if he broke his rules and read one of your minds."

"That's nearly half of everyone!" Seungkwan said, leaning back onto the counter and throwing his hands over his face melodramatically.

"I'd recommend you let Seungcheol know," Jun suggested. "If not anyone else. No guarantees on if everyone else will find out anyway."

Hansol nodded, and next to him Seungkwan let out a giant groan of disappointment.

"I'll be going now," Jun said, waving at the two of them. "I'll see you around!"

Hansol waved back and Jun left, shutting the door behind him. He looked at Seungkwan, who still had his face covered up by his hands.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching to take Seungkwan's hands away.

"Almost everyone knows already," Seungkwan said, sighing.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Hansol asked, stroking the back of Seungkwan's hand comfortingly.

"No, of course not," Seungkwan said, straightening up. "It was just... nice, having you to myself for a while."

"No one's going to take me away from you anyway," Hansol said, laughing.

"I meant, it was nice to have this little secret. Our little world."

"Let's be real, it wouldn't have been a secret for long," Hansol said, "not when we have guys like Wonwoo and Chan around us."

Seungkwan let out a laugh. "Does Wonwoo know too?"

"Not yet," Hansol answered, "but I have a feeling he's going to be stopping by the shop tomorrow because one of his crystals told him I have a secret."

"Let's make the most of it before he comes over then," Seungkwan said with a laugh, taking Hansol's hand and lacing their fingers together.

♡

"You know, I never used to drink as much tea before I met you?" Seungkwan said, picking up his pink mug and taking a sip. Jasmine infused green tea.

"It's a witch thing," Hansol said, looking behind him to where Seungkwan was sitting on the couch. The evening light was shining through the front window, peachy on the highest points of his features.

"It's cute," Seungkwan said, gesturing at Kiki as she entered the room. "It fits your perfect witch aesthetic."

"Not everything is perfect aesthetics," Hansol said. He picked out a book on magical plants and replaced it with a collection of charms. "You know magic has its dark side."

"But I'm hoping I'll never have to see that side again," Seungkwan said, allowing Kiki to jump up onto his lap and curl herself up comfortably. "So I'm going to believe that being a witch is the coolest thing ever."

"I can't argue with that," Hansol said, putting the pile of books he had with him down on the nearest surface. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"Be a witch? Or organize books?" Seungkwan asked, scratching the top of Kiki's head.

"Organize these books," Hansol said, amused. "Why would I ever  _not_  want to be a witch?"

"Maybe because you've been attacked by evil witches in a back alley," Seungkwan said, "although it's not going to stop me. Get over here anyway. Your tea is going cold."

Hansol followed through and dropped himself on the couch next to Seungkwan. Kiki purred once.

"That's how I know she's started to love you as much as she does for me," Hansol said, picking up his mug from the table, "when I come over and she doesn't move from you to come to me."

"We're best friends now," Seungkwan said, smoothing out Kiki's fur. "She's replacing you, so we have no need for you anymore. Please pack your knives and leave."

"What the fuck?" Hansol laughed, putting down his mug so he wouldn't spill any of the tea. "Are you two dating now?"

"Only if she actually  _is_  a human in disguise," Seungkwan said cheekily, a twinkle in his eye. "Otherwise that'd be weird."

"No kidding," Hansol said, reaching out and scratching the underneath of Kiki's head. She purred and rolled over in Seungkwan's lap. "Didn't you say something like that the first time you were here?"

"Not the first time," Seungkwan said. "It was another time, where I didn't have to accidentally teleport into your shop."

"You've gotten so much better at controlling your powers now," Hansol said admiringly. "You're no longer an acolyte."

"I guess I could be proud of that," Seungkwan said. A small smile began to appear, making Hansol's heart warm. "Now I can teleport to your shop and it's  _not_  an accident."

"I did wonder why you always ended up teleporting to me," Hansol said. "Didn't you always wish for where you wanted to go?"

"I wished for home," Seungkwan said, "for safety."

"And you came straight to me..."

Seungkwan's eyes widened and a red flush appeared in his cheeks, so he grabbed the nearest throw pillow to hide his face with, making Kiki scowl once at the sudden movement.

"Chwe Hansol!" he said, his voice muffled behind the pillow. "Don't say stuff like that!"

"Why not?" Hansol asked, watching Seungkwan's hands dig into the fluff.

"That's so cheesy," Seungkwan said, lowering the pillow and glowering at Hansol.

"Doesn't it make sense?"

"I mean... yeah... but you don't have to say it out loud," Seungkwan said, still blushing furiously.

"Awww," Hansol cooed, reaching over in an attempt to pinch Seungkwan's reddened cheeks. "Did I make my Kwannie shy?"

"Hansol, I swear if you don't shut up I'm leaving and never coming back."

"You wouldn't," Hansol said, laughing and wrapping an arm around Seungkwan lovingly.

"Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't," Seungkwan agreed, sinking into the couch so he was tucked into Hansol's side comfortably. Kiki purred again.

The room was dim now, the sun finally disappearing below the horizon and a few candles glowing from their corners of the room. Hansol leaned over Seungkwan to switch on a small lamp, and Seungkwan took his chance to kiss Hansol quickly on the cheek before he sat back in place.

"What was that for?" Hansol asked, raising a hand to brush it against the spot he had felt Seungkwan's lips.

"Just because I wanted to," Seungkwan said, something playful in his tone.

"I'm going to have to get used to that," Hansol said, obviously embarrassed. He picked up his mug and took a long sip.

"Isn't this what we wanted though?"

Hansol looked over at Seungkwan. "What do you mean?"

Seungkwan shrugged. "All of this. A happy ending. Where the princess finds her prince and everything is rainbows and roses and everyone is happy."

Hansol looked down at his mug, swirling around the dark liquid carefully. "I'm going to let you in on a little tarot secret. One that I think I've told Wonwoo a million times."

"And that is?" Seungkwan said.

"In tarot, there's the death card. Comes up once in a while, usually terrifies the one being read to. But it doesn't actually represent death. It represents endings, both good and bad. And that's all it could be, but the most important thing is that it's also about new beginnings, and that's what people miss, and what people don't realize they need even more."

Seungkwan didn't reply. Instead he looked down at his lap, at Kiki, and Hansol watched as a small smile grew on his features.

"I hope that didn't sound fake-deep or anything," Hansol joked, unsure of what else to say.

"You idiot," Seungkwan said, looking up suddenly and grinning at him. "I loved that. I love you and your stupid monologues."

"You do?" Hansol asked, knowing it was completely unnecessary but felt that rush of emotions inside of him anyway.

"Yeah, you know what?" Seungkwan said, a little louder, a little more confidently. "Fuck feeling awkward. I'm so in love with your entire stupid self, Hansol."

"This is starting to sound more like a hidden insult," Hansol said, laughing.

"Oh Merlin, Hansol, stop talking," Seungkwan said, smiling at him before leaning in and kissing him, effectively making Hansol keep quiet.

When Seungkwan pulled away first, he didn't retract to his side of the couch. Instead he kept the distance small, refocusing his eyes on Hansol's only a couple inches apart.

"I don't know how you do it," Seungkwan said, his voice small. "No love potions, no spells. Just you."

"I love you too, Boo."

"I didn't say that just now."

"But I know you meant it."

"Are you revealing that your hidden power is mind reading, Hansol?"

Hansol laughed softly and put his forehead against Seungkwan's. "You know my hidden power is you."

"My powers, you mean?"

"No," Hansol said, closing the distance, leaning in, never taking his eyes off the boy in front of him. "It's always you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a happy ending.
> 
> all they ever wanted.
> 
> and everything that they'll have.


	24. a thank you note

_This chapter is one giant author’s note so I don’t destroy that last chapter with a stream-of-consciousness style note like I usually do. But we’re here! At the very end of this project of mine! I just want to say that I’m super thankful to everyone that stuck around, even despite my shitty upload schedule and 2AM writing sprees and weird author’s notes. You wonderful readers are the sole reason I do this. I’ve always loved to write, and it’s made me so happy to see your sweet comments every time I upload a new chapter, especially because this was the first project I’ve ever been able to come up with the confidence to post online._

_I know I’m not the best writer out there, but this entire thing has allowed me to learn so much and I’ll take the sweet encouragements along with me as I continue to create._

_As for future projects, I’ve got a few in the works, and I hope you’ll stick around for them too._

_I'll be around on my Tumblr, Twitter, and Instragram @cherrycarat, so if you ever want to chat or look at my mediocre art, you can find me there._

_I also wanted to add an extra thank you to my best friend, Fiona, for always keeping me motivated and giving me the most ridiculous and amazing ideas. And to all of you, of course, my other main source of motivation._

_I love you all so much. Take care of yourselves._

♡ ♡ ♡

 

 

[taken straight from my notes:]

1 seungcheol – eclectic witch, oldest and most experienced, coven leader

2 jeonghan – telekinesis, prefers to lie down and float things over to him instead of standing up to get it

3 joshua – mind reading, very patient and can concentrate best to focus on other’s minds

4 jun astral projection – astral projection, taught himself to do it because he thought it was cool

5 wonwoo – crystals, self-proclaimed expert

6 hoshi – obscurity/invisibility, often uses it to spy on seokmin to make sure he’s ok (but don’t tell him that)

7 jihoon – clairvoyance, he knows _everything_

8 mingyu – divination, seeing the future for practical reasons

9 minghao – potions (plus mixology skills)

10 seokmin – healing witch, a sweetheart who looks out and cares for everyone

11 seungkwan – teleportation, to bring him closer to hansol

12 hansol – tarot cards (to make up for his missing power)

13 chan – green witch, good with plants and can talk to animals (literally a toddler and jeonghan will never let it go)

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to leave a comment or a kudos, or message me at @cherrycarat on tumblr, twitter, or instagram!


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